Solar spot lights

killerbyte

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So we want to install some solar lights at the office to improve visibility at night.

Can anyone recommend a particular spot light, or a specific brand, and even an installer?

I would like to mimic the sun with this spot light if possible.
 
Would be interested to see, I got a cheap one from takealot in 2019, it does light up the small portion in front of the shed but only 6 hours
 
We bought a couple of em Takealot jobbies for the office.


Found that if you set em to 50% they do last through the night. So my advice go overspec and only use half.
 
We bought a couple of em Takealot jobbies for the office.


Found that if you set em to 50% they do last through the night. So my advice go overspec and only use half.
200w though wow
 
Bought a supposedly 25w from Takealot but yeah its as bright as the 10w I got 2 years ago and the panel is tiny.
 
I got mine from ledtronix almost 2 years ago. 10w led's and they last around 10 hours. Have them set at dim light "always on" and "motion activated" bright light. Will take some pics tomorrow
 
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divide whatever chinese wattage they give you by 2.4 to get an idea of actual wattage .chinese manufacturers measure the lumens at source and not at say 3 metres .a 60 watt will probably give you around 800 lumens at 3 metres .the tradeoff is hours on versus battery size and solar panel .summer with full sunlight all day will be different to winter sun .for industrial use get mains operated .our experience is a 60 watt solar gives less output than a 3 watt eurolux 220 volt globe .solar is getting better .look at the new units by Lumeno .around 1k each but dont rely on the box specs .to mimic daylight intensity you will need around 120 000 lumens at 4000 kelvin to 7600 kelvin .an operating theatre is 140 000 lumens .the garish white light of chinese leds are the cheapest to make as the natural colour of an led is 7600 kelvin allmost blue with no colour rendering .that means standing under it you wont be able to make out what you just pulled out of your nose .for good lighting stick to mains a couple of good 30 watt units all around will suffice .solar lights do work but have limitations unless you spend plenty .
 
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divide whatever chinese wattage they give you by 2.4 to get an idea of actual wattage .chinese manufacturers measure the lumens at source and not at say 3 metres .a 60 watt will probably give you around 800 lumens at 3 metres .the tradeoff is hours on versus battery size and solar panel .summer with full sunlight all day will be different to winter sun .for industrial use get mains operated .our experience is a 60 watt solar gives less output than a 3 watt eurolux 220 volt globe .solar is getting better .look at the new units by Lumeno .around 1k each but dont rely on the box specs .to mimic daylight intensity you will need around 120 000 lumens at 4000 kelvin to 7600 kelvin .an operating theatre is 140 000 lumens .the garish white light of chinese leds are the cheapest to make as the natural colour of an led is 7600 kelvin allmost blue with no colour rendering .that means standing under it you wont be able to make out what you just pulled out of your nose .for good lighting stick to mains a couple of good 30 watt units all around will suffice .solar lights do work but have limitations unless you spend plenty .

Agreed, mains is better but during load shedding = Useless.

We opted to supplement normal lights with above mentioned solar lights that seem to do the job esp when Eskom decide to do their night shift LS.
 
Agreed, mains is better but during load shedding = Useless.

We opted to supplement normal lights with above mentioned solar lights that seem to do the job esp when Eskom decide to do their night shift LS.
I was just wanting to put them in an area that didn't have a mains connection, but it is looking like that isn't going to be the case, might just go buy another normal light to put up, an extra 10w isn't going to hurt my backup.
 
Agreed, mains is better but during load shedding = Useless.

We opted to supplement normal lights with above mentioned solar lights that seem to do the job esp when Eskom decide to do their night shift LS.
yes agreed we dont get load shedding at all .but our substation burnt down so we sat with no power for 4 days .and yes i do have 4 outside solar floodlights which worked very nicely in the dark .if your clever mount them in an accesible place and just unclip during loadshedding and take indoors .i dont say they are useless but they have there limits usually much less than what you expected .
 
I was just wanting to put them in an area that didn't have a mains connection, but it is looking like that isn't going to be the case, might just go buy another normal light to put up, an extra 10w isn't going to hurt my backup.
you will be surprised at how much light a 10w lamp can give .we have found the Major Tech units to be very good .as well as Osram floodlights and Eurolux .unbranded units stay away
 
you will be surprised at how much light a 10w lamp can give .we have found the Major Tech units to be very good .as well as Osram floodlights and Eurolux .unbranded units stay away
I know right :-) I've got normal 10w flood lights that replaced the old lights and it lights up my entire driveway no problems, the solar equivalent 10w is like eh.
 
Can anyone recommend a particular spot light, or a specific brand, and even an installer?

Maybe too lightweight for what you want but I used one of these (and later one from Builders) for our home and it stood outside working non stop for over two years. Discontinued now it seems but it was one Verimark product that actually worked.

1662101036754.png

I would've preferred a mains powered one back then, obviously, but Eskom. But these days with solar panels etc. things are different.

Also many of these smart flood lights (like RIng, Ezviz and the like) come with attachable solar panels. More expensive but much better tech.
 
Our complex just installed a bunch of street lamp style ones on long poles. Each unit has its own little solar panel and a battery that easily lasts the LED lights through the night. What an amazing difference especially if there is no power. Sorry no idea what brand it is but very worthwhile.
 
 
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