Off Grid lighting recommendations

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palo1

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As we are moving and developing/adapting bits of a hill farm for horses I will be needed lighting for a big open barn - it's about 100ft long (and high) and 60ft wide. We are planning long term off grid power but that won't be immediate so for the first year or so I need to find a way of getting off grid lighting to my barn. There is power for other stuff elsewhere on the main yards but the horse station will need lighting! Has anyone got any straightforward solar/wind/battery lighting recommendations that might work for a big barn and potentially around the fenced perimeter. I don't need it lit up like Colditz but enough to pick up poo on a winter's evening and do the horses/feed/check/suitable for a vet/tack up/hitch up etc. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
You need to work out how many lights you need. Go for LEDs they are a much lower draw. When you know the lights you want, then its easy to work out how much solar and what battery you need. If you PM me your email I've got a spreadsheet I can send you that does the math for you.

Supplier wise Bimble Solar would be my recommendation. They are very helpful and reasonably priced.
 
I'm Dun said:
You need to work out how many lights you need. Go for LEDs they are a much lower draw. When you know the lights you want, then its easy to work out how much solar and what battery you need. If you PM me your email I've got a spreadsheet I can send you that does the math for you.

Supplier wise Bimble Solar would be my recommendation. They are very helpful and reasonably priced.
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Thank you!! pm with email on the way :) :) Really appreciate real-world experience!
 
We have solar on our mobile home on the beach two ambient panels will run the whole thing it works really well .
You will need a emergency plan for if snow covers the roof .
 
Goldenstar said:
We have solar on our mobile home on the beach two ambient panels will run the whole thing it works really well .
You will need a emergency plan for if snow covers the roof .
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Good call - we will definitely need a contingency for snow and I hadn't considered that!
 
I've solar powered lights for my stables and tack room, they won't be powerful enough for your needs, but what I've found invaluable in the depths of winter when we have had weeks of dark grey rain is a back up. I have one like this although mine was an Aldi special and cheaper.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-rechargeable-led-work-light-2000lm/769kf

I don't have it on the stand and have made a hook for the top handle and with a few strategically placed tie rings I can have a decent light in the places I may need it (mainly thinking of vet emergencies).
 
We have lights powered by a car battery which will be topped up by a solar panel when OH gets around to installing it. Currently we swap over 2 batteries and charge the spare at home.

In other parts of the yard we've got just solar lights but they were iffy on dim days in winter.
 
We have a four light solar set up in our shelter, which works well for the entire year. You do need to put the battery bit on a water proof arrangement for its protection. Ours came from amazon
 
I am still grappling with my new barn arrangement! Solar is looking slightly tricky in that the barn is in a very exposed/windy spot and the companies I have spoken to have been a bit uncertain whether the panels or fixings would be strong enough to withstand a winter of wind/snow/rain. Also, there is an issue of having enough light in winter to entirely power the lighting/leccy requirements longer term.

I like the look of the Bedazzled bulk head lights connected to a leisure battery and that would be cheap and simple to install but I had hoped to go for something more environmentally friendly. I know that I can add a solar panel via a converter to a leisure battery so that is a possible mitigation but wondering if anyone has any other ideas? I like the ease of the bulkhead lighting system but would appreciate anyone who has used this providing feedback about quality/light etc.

I know this could be a simple thing to sort but somehow I am really boggled and don't want to spend money that will, longer term be 'wasted' or not maximised. Thanks :)
 
palo1 said:
I am still grappling with my new barn arrangement! Solar is looking slightly tricky in that the barn is in a very exposed/windy spot and the companies I have spoken to have been a bit uncertain whether the panels or fixings would be strong enough to withstand a winter of wind/snow/rain. Also, there is an issue of having enough light in winter to entirely power the lighting/leccy requirements longer term.

I like the look of the Bedazzled bulk head lights connected to a leisure battery and that would be cheap and simple to install but I had hoped to go for something more environmentally friendly. I know that I can add a solar panel via a converter to a leisure battery so that is a possible mitigation but wondering if anyone has any other ideas? I like the ease of the bulkhead lighting system but would appreciate anyone who has used this providing feedback about quality/light etc.

I know this could be a simple thing to sort but somehow I am really boggled and don't want to spend money that will, longer term be 'wasted' or not maximised. Thanks :)
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1) We're in a very wild weather place. We have solar panels on the roof of a stone shed. They've been there 7 years & come through some horrendous storms. The roof is corrugated iron sheets. There was some reinforcement of the wooden beams needed. We didn't work out the loadings ourselves, the solar company did that. I remember them saying it's not the panels lifting off that you worry about but the wind pushing down on them, increasing the apparent weight. Don't know where you are but can tell you who did ours if relevant? Otherwise try other companies. I forget how many I spoke to but it was in double figures before I found the one we were really happy with.
2) Do the panels have to be on the barn? Ground mounted solar is cheaper to install, usually more efficient at generating (better angle), easy to clean snow off. Or if you don't want to sacrifice that much space, we know someone who built a robust wooden single storey structure to hold solar panels on the roof and sheltered parking and storage underneath.
3) If not being green is the only objection to the bulk head lights plus battery, could you put solar panels at home & transport batteries? We use motor cycle batteries attached to a "site light" as our emergency back up. The batteries are cheap & light.
 
Also (and maybe a little off topic) I don't know anything about the supplier you mention but try looking in builders' merchants and farmers' supply shops for the lights, fittings etc if you go down that route. In my experience if it says "equine" or "stable" anywhere near it the price will be higher than essentially the same thing that says "site" or "farm"!
I have a neighbour who owns a large, successful gifts & ornaments company. He was particularly busy last week because he had to peel off a lot of price labels & put higher ones on to get ready for his stall at Blair.
 
Some lovely solar parts companies have sent information which, for me, is truly baffling lol!! I want to start with a small self contained set up in my horse housing and ideally want to be able to build on that as I know what is going to work best and be most needed. At the moment it looks as if a car battery driving some LED bulkhead lights would work really well; initially I can charge the batteries at the house and then move to solar charging; does that make sense to anyone?! That would enable me to have a system that I initally understand as well because whilst I know how the solar set up works in theory, it is really unfamiliar to me atm. As I understand it, it should be easy to install a solar panel purely for charging my batteries and going from there - does that sound reasonable? I do have several leisure batteries here too which would mean I don't have to buy new ones (less consumption, less expense) and could then have a bit of time to work out any bigger/more complex infrastructure needs! I would like, longer term to be able to use my clippers and the farrier to get leccy in the shed but initially those things can be done elsewhere.
 
Goldie's mum said:
1) We're in a very wild weather place. We have solar panels on the roof of a stone shed. They've been there 7 years & come through some horrendous storms. The roof is corrugated iron sheets. There was some reinforcement of the wooden beams needed. We didn't work out the loadings ourselves, the solar company did that. I remember them saying it's not the panels lifting off that you worry about but the wind pushing down on them, increasing the apparent weight. Don't know where you are but can tell you who did ours if relevant? Otherwise try other companies. I forget how many I spoke to but it was in double figures before I found the one we were really happy with.
2) Do the panels have to be on the barn? Ground mounted solar is cheaper to install, usually more efficient at generating (better angle), easy to clean snow off. Or if you don't want to sacrifice that much space, we know someone who built a robust wooden single storey structure to hold solar panels on the roof and sheltered parking and storage underneath.
3) If not being green is the only objection to the bulk head lights plus battery, could you put solar panels at home & transport batteries? We use motor cycle batteries attached to a "site light" as our emergency back up. The batteries are cheap & light.
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Thanks for this; that is really helpful. The shed I am working with is at about 12-1400 ft with it's back to a mountain so faces quite severe winds - it is a steel framed building and quite high so not appealing to climb up onto to do repairs in bad weather, nor would it be easy to clear of snow. Panels don't have to be on the barn though and it could be ground mounted (hadn't thought of that!!) which would probably be far more sensible if we could find the right location. Solar panels could be put on the house porch roof too in fact though not till next year as current porch is totally falling down and we need to build a new one next summer!! I am not sure if the roof has the right alignment or direction and it is under some trees too...

The company providing a simple lights to battery system is here: https://bedazzledledlighting.co.uk/product/stable-lights-system-croc-clip-high-brightness/

I suspect that I could find the components more cheaply somewhere else (because of the equestrian tag) but I am not sure what they are all called lol!! I can do crocodile clips and bulk head LED lights but the right cables and fittings are alien to my knowledge base lol!!

We are in the Brecon Beacons.
 
We have a solar system for the field shelter and one for the stable. The plate for the shelter is on the south facing wall, the stable one is on the roof. We live at the top of the pennines and get a lot of weather! They were bought from amazon and work amazingly well. I'll put the link on if I can find it.
 
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