I built a 8x10 shed in the back yard to securely store my (5!) bicycles. Bicycles aren’t safe in a back yard or even in a locked shed- for high-value bikes, it’s wise to have them locked even when indoors. So I designed the shed around a Huntco bike staple- sufficient to lock my two high-value bikes.
After getting it built, I decided I need lights. I thought about burying ROMEX or even a simple extension cord, but decided a small solar panel would be perfectly suited- I didn’t need a lot of power, and that would mean the shed was “off grid”.
Fast forward and I have a 200w solar panel, mounted to the house (better sun exposure), MPPT controller, and two big storage batteries. Okay, maybe a little bit overboard.
Next, I thought about the ‘consumers’ of power in the shed. My first two priorities were lights and recharging tool batteries. Lights would run DC, and I’d like to have them on a timer. The chargers would run AC, and.. again, a timer would be really nice.
That led to the mess seen above. It’s actually fairly elegant- the fuse block at the lower left is the “distribution” block, and the block at the lower right is the “lighting” block. The two relays let me run the timers on a small amount of current and then run high-current DC devices- the lights and the chargers. Finally, the distribution block feeds some always-on consumers: USB plugs and ham radio gear (more on this later).
The charger circuit powers a 500w inverter that I bought on Amazon for less than $50. That lets me charge my tool batteries and whatever else I think of.
The always-on USB outlet (upper left) supplies power to the IOT monitor gadget and to recharge my bike gadgets (Cycliq Fly12, Wahoo ELEMNT, Coros helmet, etc). There’s another USB outlet by the ham radio gear. They are USB outlets with 4 ports designed for an RV, handle the range of voltage that a 12v auto tends to provide, and are $20. They are rated at 2 amps per port.
Next, lights. I’d rather not invert to get AC power, how can I get bright lights at 12v? Automotive. So I searched eBay and found LED spotlights for a decent price. I installed a couple, but the light produced too many shadows.
So, how about LED strips? I’ve used WS2812s before. I didn’t need anything complicated, just white 12v LEDs. Amazon has 12v LED strips, 60 LEDs per meter, with a sticky backing. A 5M spool was $30. I ended up using two spools, and after soldering failures I grabbed a package of connectors. That allowed me to cut the strip to length and connect to the cut end.
Finally, I wanted always-on power at the opposite end of the shed from the batteries and MPPT controller, so I ran 10 gauge wire and mounted a ground block and fuse block on the ceiling at the far end. Currently there are two consumers from this block: another 4-outlet USB box and a PowerPole distribution block. These are for amateur radio power.
Hope this helps. Hit me up if you have questions.
