Electronics Questions & Answers ← browse Q&As

First, not much of an electronics guy, more somewhat experienced with basic DC stuff..... So, my cabin is off-grid, and I run the LED inside lights off a bank of 7.2ah 12v batteries (because I have access to them, and...because....free).
I just installed a Noma solar motion activated outdoor LED light. I opened it up to see what sort of battery it has, and it's a little shrink-wrapped pack of cells similar to a cordless phone, or whatever, 6v indicated. Anybody able to tell me if this light would be able to run off 12v? I know some LED lights are able to run off anything from 5v to 24v, but possibly they are specifically internally regulated? Anyone happen to know if this one would be? If you google 'noma solar motion sensor 180 degree light'...you should be able to see it.

I'm not at the cabin, and unfortunately I don't have any more info on the device than what I've given...hoping maybe someone knowledgeable has played around with one of these and is familiar with if the voltage would be regulated somehow or not...

Looking at this on google, I count 60 LEDs. They would take up to 1.2 amps, if they are driven independently or 0.6 amps if in series pairs. To this must be added a small current for the solar sensing. At this rather high current I would recommend using a regulator to get from 12V down to 6V.

To save you the trouble of wiring up a regulator chip you might like to consider this: https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=140_171&products_id=3202 or similar.

This has the advantage of high efficiency so will help keep the load on your cabin batteries as low as possible.