solar power sign cabinet

[asd]

I am looking for some ideas/info on this subject, if anyone has installed an illuminated sign power by batteries and solar panels, if so what type of batteries did you use and where did you get them from? same thing with the solar panels any help is greatly appreciated

 

[John_Smith]

What size sign?? Internal or external illumination?
What are your "realistic" expectations of the lighting?

 

[somcalmetim]

What size sign?? Internal or external illumination?
What are your "realistic" expectations of the lighting?

It doesnt seem like they can even keep a speed advisory sign board powered by solar around here and it isnt even lit most of the time...
when I go past in the morning it is usually not working...not sure how much power the speed reading function takes or what size battery they leave for it but it doesn't seem like it lasts long even when the lights only flash the speed for 20-30 seconds/car on a country road

 

[jcskikus]

I believe he's looking for ideas for a "recipe" on what to use, etc. I don't believe there's a panel big enough and light enough to light up a 2' x 20' sign for 8 hrs every night. The batteries would have to be stored inside the building.

 

[asd]

it will be a 4x8 with leds

 

[bowtievega]

We have done a few sign cabinets with a solar setup. Purchased kits from Mr. Solar online. They will custom build a setup based on your total wattage and desired illumination time. The controller and batteries will be in a NEMA enclosure that mounts to the pole where you will mount your solar panels. The setup needs to have enough battery backup to operate for a few days without recharge to function properly. The less time the sign is illuminated will have a drastic effect on the size of your system. Also keep in mind that you will have to run a low voltage cable from the controller/batteries to the sign so the enclosure will need to be located relatively close to the sign. You can't have the batteries in a remote location and have a large amount of voltage drop trying to make a long run to the sign. These systems that are setup properly are not cheap but they work great and are perfect for more remote sign locations where it is not cost effective to run standard power. I will say that usually it is more efficient to design a system that powers a few LED flood lights as opposed to internally lighting sign faces but it all depends on total wattage.

 

[OmegaSpecter]

Solar is not great for signage. There are solar suppliers you can buy the necessary parts from. Batteries are just deep cycle marine batteries, solar guys will sell those too. If it gets cold where installing, the battery enclosure will need to be heated. Use as low power of an LED as you can and limit LED usage through your design, push through is a good out for that. Pre-calculate your wattage and give yourself at least twice the output to reduce strain on the batteries.

In my experience, the larger of a solar setup you need, the more cost prohibitive it becomes. Unless this is going literally in the middle of nowhere, trenching power tends to be cheaper. Solar has maintenance costs people tend to ignore until they need to spend another 2k on batteries a few years down the line.