Storage container lighting

[Buzz84]

Hi all,

At work we have 8x 20ft containers for storage, they store consumable items used in our factory and get accessed day and night when needed. at the moment they use a head torch when its dark and I want to improve that. The corner of the yard where these are has no power and its a long way to the next available source.

I am thinking of mounting a 12v light bar on the ceiling just inside the the container door pointing inward. the light bars are low profile so should be out of the way when the containers are loaded by forklift and I would pair them with a roller switch so they automictically switch off when the doors are closed. 12v should also mean the wiring is small enough to feed out the container door seal and there wont be any need for AC-DC power supplies etc

Power for these would require a solar charged battery, So I am just after some advice as to what people think I should use for the solar panel, charger and battery. any particular brands or suppliers to recommend?

It wouldn't need to be massive as they aren't open for long as they grab what they need and go. the only time they are open for long periods is when a new delivery arrives and needs loading into all the containers, but that's always done in the day time so not so bad.

I know that to accurately size the panel/charger/battery I will need to identify some lights to use, but wanted to check all the theory first. and realistically i can just size up if i end up with more powerful lights.

[Hoofy]

You'll need some leisure or deep cycle batteries and some mono panels in parallel, plus one or more solar charge controllers. As to the size of battery and the size of panels, that depends on how long someone is in each container for and how much lighting they need.

I suppose you could start with just one for one container and see how long it lasts then adjust storage and panel to suit?

Check out lowenergysupermarket.com for the supplies. They do complete kits. It might be worthwhile asking them which would suit your usage, then buy one for a container to see if it works out for you.

Edited by Hoofy on Thursday 19th March 12:18

[Simpo Two]

I would buy some cable and use mains. Cheaper, easier, simpler.

[Buzz84]

Hoofy said:

You'll need some leisure or deep cycle batteries and some mono panels in parallel, plus one or more solar charge controllers. As to the size of battery and the size of panels, that depends on how long someone is in each container for and how much lighting they need.

I suppose you could start with just one for one container and see how long it lasts then adjust storage and panel to suit?

Check out lowenergysupermarket.com for the supplies. They do complete kits. It might be worthwhile asking them which would suit your usage, then buy one for a container to see if it works out for you.

Edited by Hoofy on Thursday 19th March 12:18

Thanks Hoofy, that's really useful, I was struggling to find of grid kits that didn't include an inverter, we only want lighting. they have a kit that includes a panel, charger, battery and 4x lights for £200. says that will power the lights for 11 hours.

£20 for 4 more lights, that will theoretically will half the duration to around 5 hours. but in reality they will never all be on together and will only be on for 15minutes at a time. If the panel and battery is oversized for our use it probably just caters for winter when generation will be lower.

They also do 12V LED strip lights, that might be better as a low profile bar across the entrance

Edited by Buzz84 on Thursday 19th March 15:02

[Hoofy]

Buzz84 said:

Hoofy said:

You'll need some leisure or deep cycle batteries and some mono panels in parallel, plus one or more solar charge controllers. As to the size of battery and the size of panels, that depends on how long someone is in each container for and how much lighting they need.

I suppose you could start with just one for one container and see how long it lasts then adjust storage and panel to suit?

Check out lowenergysupermarket.com for the supplies. They do complete kits. It might be worthwhile asking them which would suit your usage, then buy one for a container to see if it works out for you.

Edited by Hoofy on Thursday 19th March 12:18

Thanks Hoofy, that's really useful, I was struggling to find of grid kits that didn't include an inverter, we only want lighting. they have a kit that includes a panel, charger, battery and 4x lights for £200. says that will power the lights for 11 hours.

£20 for 4 more lights, that will theoretically will half the duration to around 5 hours. but in reality they will never all be on together and will only be on for 15minutes at a time.

the extra battery/solar capacity will probably be useful for winter when generation will be lower.

Cool.

This is on the assumption that you can charge the battery up fully in winter. The more panels, the more charge but be careful as you could kill the controller (as in melt it) if there's too much energy coming in during the summer months!

As I say, speak to them about the best package for your usage.

[OutInTheShed]

If your container is well organised, you don't need vast amounts of light.

A few rechargeable work lamps might do the job.
A mate has a container, he's got about six of those 'two for a tenner on ebay' pocket work lamps, just takes the flat ones home to charge on USB.
They're even magnetic, so ideal for a container!
Unfortunately they are immensely useful for many things, so they get 'borrowed'.

I had a lock-up garage for a while, an old car battery and various 12V lights and a small solar panel.
The awkward bit is the charge controller to prevent the solar panel over charging the battery, most of the cheap ones are terrible, and even the good ones are slanted towards applications where the battery is cycled every day, like lights for signs for example, and they can over charge and kill a battery if you don't get the settings right.
Over charging lithium batteries is not clever, but if you get a 12V LFP 'leisure battery' it will have a built in BMS to manage charging.

[davidexige]

I think between yourself and Hoofy you ve got just about everything covered, couple of things I d consider if I was doing it myself, I d fit a light switch instead of a door switch, simpler, less to go wrong, less susceptible to damage and you can control when the lights are on or off. Instead of running the cables through the door seal, perhaps consider running the cables through the side of the container, easy to do, I usual cut a hole in the side of the container using a hole saw and then fit a stuffing gland, I normal use the brass type but the plastic type will do for your application and they re cheap. Without seeing your container I m not sure how easy it would be to run and support any cabling inside, but adhesive cable tie mounts would be ideal if there s not already anything fitted. Here s a couple of examples of what I've mentioned

Stuffing glands
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=stuffing+glands&c...

Cable tie mounts
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adhesive-Holders%EF%BC%8C...

Edited by davidexige on Thursday 19th March 17:13

[Griffith4ever]

I've solar powered containers for many years. It was for CCTV, and Internet (outdoor CPE).

For modest LED lighting you'll get away with

75Ah battery - really makes little odds what it is (leisure or starter), 100W solar panel, solar regulator.

Just bear in mind in the winter your 100w panel WILL work, just it won't support hours long access (lighting) periods, but it'll be fine for "here and there"

To keep my CCTV and wifi running I had 400W of 20v panels on the roof, angled, with a 240Ah mega leisure battery, and it was still touch and go in the deepest parts of winter. BUT, that's a constant draw for the wifi and the camera. With modest LED lighting , used occasionally, you'll get away with 100W per container most likely.

[Hoofy]

Griffith4ever said:

a 240Ah mega leisure battery

Bet that was hilarious to pick up! Why not smaller ones in parallel?

[Snow and Rocks]

How remote are the containers from the nearest mains supply? If it's just for lighting then even a long run of armoured cable won't be too expensive.

Would be a lot less hassle in the long run and allow you to run properly bright stuff without ever worrying about running out.

[Griffith4ever]

Hoofy said:

Griffith4ever said:

a 240Ah mega leisure battery

Bet that was hilarious to pick up! Why not smaller ones in parallel?

Indeed - I get the mrs to help move it. Was a better price than 2 smallers, and it only gets moved twice a year (well, it used to). Plus it was in a firework storage container so the less cables and links, the happier everyone is.

[Hoofy]

Griffith4ever said:

Hoofy said:

Griffith4ever said:

a 240Ah mega leisure battery

Bet that was hilarious to pick up! Why not smaller ones in parallel?

Indeed - I get the mrs to help move it. Was a better price than 2 smallers, and it only gets moved twice a year (well, it used to). Plus it was in a firework storage container so the less cables and links, the happier everyone is.

Ah. Fair enough!