I have been lurking/researching the forums, and it seems to have been done, but information seems to be scattered all over.
My project will be three phases:
1.) Basic On/Off AC Light using Arduino and an SSR
2.) Web manager to control the lights (Send signal to Arduino, it sends current/voltage to SSR, turns on light. Conversely sends a signal to Arduino etc. to turn off the light)
3.) A mobile app (Android or Windows) that can turn on lights/appliances depending on the schedule you set
Starting with phase one, I am running into difficulties choosing the right SSR and the proper circuit to begin.
My light (AC) has a 60Watt max rating. In the US, I have 120V in mains, which I assume given P=VI, that the max current the load draws is 0.5A.
Another concern is using the SSR to turn on and off the load, since I am only using a light for now, it is a resistive load, so I assume I don't need to worry about snubber circuit. I was thinking of getting an SSR with Load voltage rating up to 280V, and load current rating 8A or higher, please let me know if this is a poor selection choice - from what I've read this should be okay for my use, but explanation would be appreciated.
As I am looking for possible SSRs to use, there seems to be many different options of output device: Thyristor, TRIAC, Phototransistor, Photo TRIAC, and this seems confusing to choose for the best application.
After choosing the proper SSR, I want to discuss an appropriate circuit. TO connect to the ARduino. I have seen some schematics using a BJT, but me being unsure of choosing the right resistors for the bias network, I was confused last night and called it a day. Any help would be appreciated!