LED Driver circuit

[trinihavoc]

Hi, i am in the process of creating a LED indoor vertical farm and i am looking for the cheapest way to power my leds. I am adequate in electronics but need some help in deciding on what appraoch to power these leds. I was thinking to build some light bars with 50 or so Leds each but i need cheap way to power them. Can any one help me with this circuit or offer some options.

Thank you in advance

P:S i am using OSRAM golden Dragon Plus leds

 

[BobK]

There are many reasonably prices constant current LED drivers out there. Check Ebay.

Bob

 

[trinihavoc]

hey bob, i was thinking if i rectify 110v i can string 50 (50 X 2.2 volts = 110) of them together but i need a circuit for this to regulate the voltage.

 

[davenn]

There's another current thread on running LEDs from rectified mains voltage


It really is not a good way to go, mainly from a safety factor
I would strongly encourage you to use commercial modules designed for that purpose
Or use other low voltage LED driver solutions

cheers
Dave

 

[trinihavoc]

i feel u guys don't understand what i am trying to do, i am trying to figure out the cheapest and safest way to power 60-80 led bars with 50 leds at 1w each if i have to buy a 80W driver for each at approximately $30 thats alot of money not to mention the work involved in wiring them. I am new to this but would i not be able to get lets say one unit to regulate the voltage and current and just wire each bar in series and plug them in. Or maybe i am a little out of my depth here and need to hire an electrical engineer to design the circuit for me. Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[davenn]

Yes we understand quite well

We just want you to understand what you are getting into and the serious safety aspects you would need to consider

Dave

 

[BobK]

3000 to 4000 Watts of LED power total? This must be some indoor farm. Have you thought about what it will take to cool them as well, that's like running 2 to 3 1500W space heaters constantly. Do expect a visit from the police.

Bob

 

[trinihavoc]

yes I am looking at attaching the LED to aluminium 1 inch square hollow section then running a water through it to cool the leds. You see there are certain types of crops here in Trinidad which are hard to grow due to the heat ie bibb lettuce, spinach etc. We get a high price for them because the imported products are so expensive. I can actually make more money growing spinach than growing weed, using vertical farming and the fact that spinach takes 36 days to grow vs 6 months to grow a crop of weed. I still not getting any sort of replies as to my options. I am interested in building my own drivers because a lot of the of-the-shelf drivers have efficiency issues if I can build a 24 volt 5 amp for a reasonable price this should work.

thank you

 

[BobK]

Ah, the equation would be different here in the U.S.

24V 5A would only be 120W you would need 25 of these to run 3000W. Your cheapest option is the one you mentioned intially and we are not allowed to discuss here. If you want to take the risk and make sure these things are well protected from accidental contact, you could try searching on the web for info. Though I think water cooling near line voltages is not well advised.

Bob

 

[trinihavoc]

Thanks guys