Posts

Showing posts from July, 2022

Remote low-voltage outdoor light switch

Image
In this article I will explain a remote light switch for low-voltage outdoor lighting. This device toggles the state of the load whenever the power to it is interrupted briefly. This device also connects to a wireless remote control (similar to this one ) to allow the user to control the brightness of the LED strip. Background I built this device to power a set of LED light strings (similar to these ) from a 12 volt battery. The battery is charged by a solar panel through a charge controller. Various motion-activated lights in the house are also powered from the battery and solar panel. However, there was only a single 12 volt wire feeding multiple outdoor loads, some of which were needed during the day. Thus, I created this device to switch these lights on at night. An Arduino measures the voltage on the solar panel and determines when night begins. Then, it briefly interrupts the power to the lights, and the device interprets this and switches the lights on (or off). This allows po