Powering multiple high-power led strips

Other Hardware LEDs and Multiplexing
1

Hey guys,
I'm sure this question has been asked and answered before but I couldn't find a clear answer fitting my case.
I have 8x High power LED strips which I use for lighting my indoor garden as it doesn't get much natural sunlight in my below-ground apartment.
I want to be able to connect each LED strips to a separate ESP32 board and a MOSFET so that I can control each strip separately.
According to the seller, each LED strip draws 20W at 5V.
My first question, this sounds quite high. Is it likely that they draw this much power, or is the seller just wrong?
My second question is, how do I power them? Ideally I'd want to have each strip powered individually so that I can place them in different places without having to run wires to all of them. My first thought was buying multiple 5v5a USB power adapters, but buying 8-10 of them gets expensive quickly.
If I were to have one PSU for all 8 strips, what PSU would I need? I reaslize I need a PSU that outputs at least 5v 160w. How do I connect the LEDs? Should they be in parallel, or in series?

Thanks in advance, as you can see I am a complete noob when it comes to connecting circuits, and I'm mainly trying not to kill myself.

2

Suggest you use separate 5v power supplies.

3

yes

yes, but at minimum you'll need the control signal, and a ground reference, going to each mosfet located at the remote power supply/LED assembly

You've got the math right. Big supply, lots of current due to low voltage. LEDs cannot be run in series, you can't control them that way.

Maybe, learn to walk before you try and run. That's 32 Amperes of juice you want to control. Fuses are a must. Much better to divide and conquer, put a PS with each LED strip. But still fuse each output, please.

4

@irmihorwi
I would like more details on the specs of your LEDs
What I have used in the past:
I have used this Black Box part from Meanwell to power LED strips of all types
[Mean well DC-DC Constant Current Step-Down LED Driver LDD-H Series] (https://www.meanwell.com/Upload/PDF/LDD-H/LDD-H-SPEC.PDF)
If this will work...
You can power large strips of LEDs with them. They have a range from 300ma to 1500ma
The dining and power-off range will allow you to control with as little as 2.5V all the way to 6V:
Power ON with dimming: DIM ~ -Vin >2.5 ~ 6VDC or open circuit
Power OFF : DIM ~ -Vin < 0.8VDC or short
Dimming: 100 ~ 1KHz
You would most likely drive the LEDs directly without any resistors when using this driver.
Z

5

With all due respect, please read his first post. We're talking much bigger loads here.

6

With all due respect, please read his first post. We're talking much bigger loads here.

I saw the 4-amp requirement. I use 56V and run my strips in series to limit the current loads.
Z

7

@zhomeslice How do you control each strip separately in a series connection?

8

So you have 8 strips and each strip can draw 20 watts / 5.0 volts = 4 amps per strip. Allowing a margin I would give each strip a 5.0 amp allowance or 5.0 amps * 8 strips is a 40 amp DC 5.0 volt supply. Personally I see no reason to use individual supplies.

Not sure why you would want a uC for each string of LEDs? Each string would require just a single DIO line from your uC. You just need to draft out exactly what you want each LED strip to do and when. If this is just a simple On/Off affair for light at prescribed times of day. They actually make timing relay modules for things like artificial lightening and watering schemes. More control? Add a bypass switch so you can run manual control on demand.

Using a MOSFET as a switch I would use a N channel logic level MOSFET similar to a FQP30N06L just as an example.

LED RGB MOSFET DRIVEN
LED RGB MOSFET DRIVEN755×490 6.41 KB

The illustration was for three RGB strips. but I am sure you get the idea

When more is known about the lights and setup things will come together

Personally I would consider one large 5 volt 40 amp supply. If I went the UC route it would likely use a Arduino If you want real time they make some very accurate clocks easily inyrtface.

Ron

9

This is what I want to avoid, buying 8 of these will make the project cost about 4 times as much.

10

Not to me, if you are using them as grow-lights.

20W LED lighting is roughly equivalent to 100W incandescent lighting, which isn't much for plants.

11

The following diagram is what I originally planned, 8 circuits as shown here.
I am not sure what I need to put at X1 to make the ESP32 get it's appropriate power(2.2-3.6v).

image

12

Just remember, if you only use one supply, that power supply can deliver very high currents.

High current supplies can be very dangerous !

As mentioned use fusing (at the power supply itself), use large gauge wire that has low resistance.

13

You can buy high current wall adapters at thrift shops and computer recycling outfits for a fraction of the price of a new one (look for game and computer monitor adapters).

14

I don't have the exact specs for the LEDs. What I have are two of these:

I already have those, and my plan was to cannibalise them, taking only the LED strips themselves, and connecting a MOSFET and an ESP32 WiFi module to each strip independently, to allow me to control each one on it's own.

15

If i connect them all to one PSU I will give up the ability to control them independently and will likely group them in groups of 4 strips.

16

Not if you wire the project correctly.

17

Why?
I think your project concept is sufficiently tenuous that more research is required by you before anyone can help you. You've gone from your original question, talking about one bulk supply, to now arguing(not validly) that that won't work.
Have fun.

18

The reason I wanted individual Power supplies for each strip is that I will have completely separate components which I can place around my house. This is also the reason that I need a MOSFET and ESP WiFi module for each strip.

This was my plan(Crude diagram as I don't know how to create proper electrical diagrams).
image

Also, can you provide the reasoning for choosing 100K resistors?

19

I know, that's why I wanted to avoid high currents.
Will a 5v 5a usb wall adapter(Like this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003285099969.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.3.5fcc4277o06il6&algo_pvid=318603f7-b072-452a-86b5-304f008e02ba&algo_exp_id=318603f7-b072-452a-86b5-304f008e02ba-1&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000025020540292"}&pdp_npi=3%40dis!ILS!14.05!0.04!!!!!%402100bbf516799316551535820d06f5!12000025020540292!sea!IL!0&curPageLogUid=AihesgmLv5cO)

20

I know that it's possible, but if they have to be connected to the same PSU anyway, I won't be able to put them in separate locations, so I might as well skip the headache of controlling each strip individually.