>> Sounds interesting and is something I've pondered about doing. Do you have any more info ?
It's quite straightforward to do if you're comfortable with the principles of a basic DC circuit.
To get something working, you just need four components: A solar charge controller, a leisure battery, a solar panel, and then whatever lighting or other stuff you want to use. Oh and of course the wire to connect it all up.
The charge controller is the heart of the system, to which all the components connect. It is easy enough to wire in, with just three connections (each with positive and negative terminals). One connection is to the battery, the second is to the solar panel (often labelled PV), and the third is to the load (your lights). The charge controller prevents overcharging of the battery in sunny conditions, and also excessive discharging, switching the load off automatically if the battery voltage drops below a pre-determined level.
Rough installation would be as follows:
Site your battery either inside, or in a weatherproof box in a sheltered location. Run a couple of wires from the battery terminals, via an inline fuse on the positive, to the battery terminals on the charge controller. If your battery is being kept outside, it's worth insulating the battery box to protect the battery from frost. I used some old bubble-wrap and foam packaging offcuts. You need to let the battery vent though so don't seal it, and I placed the battery box in a sheltered location between a shed and a brick wall.
Next, connect your solar panel to the charge controller's PV terminals. At this point, your battery will be being charged and maintained by the solar panel and the charge controller.
Then you need to connect your lights to to the load terminals on the charge controller, again ideally through a fuse just in case. I used a cheap four way automotive fuse box.
At this point, you will have a basic working system that can be turned on and off by pressing the load switch on the charge controller.
If the need to physically trek down the garden to do this every time is inconvenient, you can buy 12v remote switches that work off an RF keyfob, a bit like an old fashioned car alarm remote. This is basically a box about the size of a cigarette packet, which has an input (from the load terminals on the charge controller), and then in my case, up to four channels/outputs which you can connect your lights to, that can be switched independently and remotely. You can get single channel ones, up to pretty much as many as you like.
Here are the bits I used:
Charge controller:
www.amazon.co.uk/Anself-Controller-Protection-Temperature-Compensation/dp/B071F4JWKB/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=solar%2Bcharge%2Bcontroller&qid=1560165466&s=gateway&sr=8-7&th=1
Remote switch - enables me to switch the lights on and off from the house, and also split the lighting across up to four separate switches, so I can control each set of lights separately:
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072V2R3JB?aaxitk=CPCZ-zPRZtlT-EhSwwSxrQ&pd_rd_i=B072V2R3JB&pf_rd_p=0bc5e070-4ef7-4065-bdb4-416fd6af2b8b&hsa_cr_id=3633996120002&sb-ci-n=productDescription&sb-ci-v=eMylo%20RF%20Remote%20Control%2012V%20Relay%20Switch%20Wireless%20Switch%20433Mhz%20One%204-Channel%20with%20Two%20Transmitters&sb-ci-a=B072V2R3JB
Fuse box:
www.amazon.co.uk/Qiorange-UNIVERSAL-CIRCUIT-STANDARD-HOLDER/dp/B0752CHS5B/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=4+way+fuse+box&qid=1560165681&s=gateway&sr=8-12
Battery box (check your battery fits - they come in different size) :
www.amazon.co.uk/Caravan-Yellow-Leisure-Battery-Holding/dp/B000XT9ANG/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=battery+box&qid=1560165748&s=gateway&sr=8-5
Lights:
www.amazon.co.uk/ZUCKEO-Transformer-Waterproof-Decorative-spotlights/dp/B07K156JWW/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=12v+outdoor+lights&qid=1560165918&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1
Then you'll just need appropriate lengths of wire to join it all together, plus of course terminals.
All the electronics are mounted in the dry on a board inside the shed, with the wiring going through the back wall of the shed. The battery is in a box down the back of the shed, out of the way (and out of sight), and the solar panel is fixed to the shed roof.
I've also wired the battery and the solar cables through simple toggle switches, so if I do need to isolate either or both for any reason, I don't need to disconnect any wires. This isn't strictly necessary, but I saw it as an additional safety measure that was easy and cheap to do while I was there.
I can't find the exact panel I bought, but it was a 40w one and cost about 60 quid. If I did it again, I'd use a bigger panel, as the battery can sometimes need a top up in winter. You might also consider running a separate set of wires from the battery to an accessible location to enable this without disconnecting any wiring.
Financially, it probably hasn't recouped the investment yet, but it was a fun project to do and is a bit of a talking point among visitors to the house :-)
Last edited by: DP on Mon 10 Jun 19 at 12:50
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