Off-Grid & Energy-Efficient: Harnessing DC Power Directly
Every bit of energy you produce when you are living off the grid is precious and we need to find the best way to use what we have in the most efficient way!
If any of you have ever dreamed of being (or are) off the grid, you are probably familiar with using batteries to store some or all of your energy for nights and cloudy days. The solar panels you are most likely using produce DC energy which charges the batteries during the day.
The most efficient way to use the DC energy in the batteries is to power your lighting, appliances, and motors directly by the batteries. But because most of the devices that use power in conventional homes use Alternating Current (AC) we may often be forced to use what is commercially available at the best price.
The Impact of DC Power on Lighting Efficiency
For lighting in an Off Grid Home, it really does not make sense to use AC power. You can think of solar panels and LEDs as being opposites in the DC world. Solar panels take light and convert the sun’s energy into DC power which we store on our batteries. LED’s use the DC energy stored in the batteries and convert it back into light.
Unfortunately, our dependance on the AC grid has resulted in the creation of an inefficient method for powering our lighting. We buy lights that need to be plugged into an AC outlet. These lights have a power supply in them that converts the 120 VAC into a DC output to power the DC LEDs in the light. (Did you know that Red LEDs are 2 VDC devices and white and blue LEDs are 3 VDC devices.) These power supplies waste 10-15% of the energy going into them as heat.
If you combine the fact that an inverter connected to the batteries in your home loses 10-15% of the DC energy in your batteries to make AC power and with the losses in a power supply in an LED light source, you are losing a minimum of 20% and possibly as much as 30% of the precious energy stored in your batteries to power your lights.
Happy Leaf: The Only DC Power-Ready Grow Lights on the Market for Unparalleled Efficiency
Why not power your LED light directly from a DC power source? The Happy Leaf Procyon family of horticultural lighting are the only commercial grade lights designed to enable you to grow everything from arugula to tomatoes in your home all year long. They can be plugged directly into a 24 VDC power source without the need for AC inverters or power supplies with the potential of saving between 20 and 30% of the energy you have stored in your Off Grid Battery system.
Happy Leaf Grow Lights: Optimizing Off-Grid Food Production
If you are living Off the Grid, you are most likely interested in growing some or all of your food at home all year long. You will want to use the most efficient horticultural lighting available that has an optimized ratio of LED colors (RGB of 70/20/10). The energy levels required to grow everything from microgreens to tomatoes, and be powered directly by a DC power source.
Visit the Happy Leaf LED YouTube Channel or read our blog for more in-depth information like, What You Really Need to Know About Grow Lights or Grow Lights: How Much Should I Pay?