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  • church sign

    Our church has a 4ft by 8 ft commercial sign with four 60 watt 8 ft florescent tubes. It is 300-400 feet from closest electrical supply. Underground wire has deteriorated and partly paved over. What does it take to convert to solar power to light the sign 4 or 5 hours daily near Gainesville Florida? Are there low watt replacements for 8 ft florescents? Will it be better to replace the 300+ ft of wire including digging up pavement? Thanks for any help.

  • #2
    is the copper wire structually sound..? meaning.. have you tried to pull it through the conduit??Mabe just dig it up where its not under the pavement to reduce the length needed to pull it through ..if it can be done then you just need to connect the new wire to the old and pull it through.
    Going solar will involve batteries and over the years many replacement batteries.

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    • #3
      Do you know what kind of fluorescent tubes they are? Are they T5, T8, or T12?

      If they are T5 they produce right around 24,000 Lumens of light, T8 right around 22,000, and if T12 around 21,500. What I am driving at, there is no LED or other light source that can generate that much light with 240 watts of power. It would take almost twice that much power using LED or CFL.

      There is one other option which has even higher lumens/watt using either low pressure or high pressure sodium, but the is not great as you have surely noticed with some street lights with that orange glow.

      You best bet, most bang for the buck, and least expensive option is to replace the wring and stick with florescent tubes.
      MSEE, PE

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      • #4
        A couple years ago, I bought some 12V LED replacements for sign lighting. I've used them for other things, but they are flat, 1" square circuit boards with a driver circuit, and several SMT LEDS. They are strung together with 6" of wire between them and are supposed to face outward, only lighting the sign.
        But they aren't cheap, and will consume nearly as much power as you do now, but their benifit is, the long lifetime.

        Google: LED sign module

        found http://store.axiomled.com/category_s/20.htm
        Last edited by Mike90250; 08-29-2011, 11:50 AM. Reason: found link
        Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
        || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
        || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

        solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
        gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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        • #5
          Thanks to each of you for the prompt replies. Presently have romex underground cable, no conduit. I may check for continuity in wire under pavement, and if okay use an underground splice, and replace rest of cable. The idea of the 12 v led modules sounds, easier to do, but costly. All I would need is LED modules, power supply, battery, and solar panel and regulator. If LED modules use 45-50 watts, Florida sun 4 or 5 hrs daily, sign on 5 or 6 hrs daily, what size panel would be needed?

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          • #6
            400w of panels = 320w of harvest x5 hours = 1,600watt hours
            (that would be 2, 200w "12v" panels feeding a PWM controller)
            (Morningstar Sunlight Solar Lighting Controller - 10 amp, 12 volt) 2 ea, 1 for each panel.

            You could have up to 200AH of batteries (2, 6v 200a golf cart batteries)

            You need to figure out how many LED modules needed to light your sign, 50w sounds low.

            Using 50 w for 1 hour is = 50wh @ 12V = 4.2 ah consumed. 5 hours would be 21ah consumed, which is allowable for the battery life.

            And someone is going to have to add water to the batteries, or you spend more $$ for sealed AGM batteries.

            This may all fit inside the sign expect for the PV panels which would be on display for all to see and steal.
            Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
            || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
            || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

            solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
            gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

            Comment


            • #7
              Keep the batteries insulated

              If you go the solar route for powering the lighting on your sign, be sure to keep your batteries insulted. Protect them from excessive heat (and cold, but that won't be a problem in Florida). I'd suggest building a little insulated 'house' for them. They'll last a lot longer.

              Also, invest in a good Low Voltage Disconnect. This will also make your batteries last longer. I see a lot of solar applications kill their batteries without one.

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