Best LED lights for 1kw off grid solar system

[CircusDogCannabis]

Newbie here and this is my first post, so please forgive if this has been addressed before. I live off grid with a brand new 1kw solar system with 8 12volt battery storage capacity. Whew! It took me months to actually understand what all that really means!

My question is if any of you live off grid and start your seeds with led grow lights which ones are the most energy efficient in your experience? It can be difficult to judge actual power usage unless I just buy them and use a Killowat to rate them, which could be expensive.

My plan is to start the plants indoors and then move them to an outdoor greenhouse. I also live in Montana, which means I’m inly expecting one grow a year, using the greenhouse.

Thanks for any help you can provide and thanks to the voters of Montana!

[grouchyoldman]

Welcome to GWE, home of friendly and experienced growers!

The latest LED grow lights are very energy efficient and would seem a good match for your system. As an example, the ViparSpectra XS 1500 is plenty of light for a 2'x2' grow space and it only draws 150 actual watts from the wall.

As you are probably realizing, a 1Kw solar system is pretty limited for a household so if you are completely off the grid you'll need to be really stingy with your juice.

Cheers,

-Grouchy

[JohnEmad]

Welcome to GWE forum.
I agree with Grouchyoldman, any of the newer LED's from reputable companies should do the job. These lights are getting better and better each year.
Look at HLG, Spiderfarmer, MarsHydro as a few more choices. I use Marshydro and a Quantum Board style from True Northern. They both do a great job.

[BR2K]

Welcome to the forum!!! I'd recommend only using a small T5, like you can find at Home Depot. I believe that will only draw around 50 watts. I 1Kw system doesn't afford much in the way of growing. Lights are hungry, regardless. Do you have a plan you've drawn up? I'd also recommend increasing your battery bank.

[gbauto]

Welcome, CDC.
How large of an outdoor grow are you trying to run?
If you only need a few plants to get started and vegged until weather permits moving them outdoors, using the most efficient led you can afford will work well.
15-20 watts/sq ft of canopy will veg well, so it'll really depend on how much space you'll need to grow the starts to figure out how much power you'll need.

[CircusDogCannabis]

Sorry for not checking in you guys are really great! I’m currently in the middle of my first grow and it’s awesome! I’m probably going to do my first trim in a few weeks and will see how much I get.

Here’s what I did. Started under a aero garden and I’ve heard from my dad the master gardener and my mentor that it’s not powerful enough, but here is the plant that grew under it. The second is the one getting clipped soon. They are both Sour Diesel and are getting cloudy trichomes with a few amber on the large plant. Medium is Roots Organics Original and Fox Farm Big Bloom & Tiger Bloom only given during flowering. I didn’t give any nutrients during veg at all. Now I’m just giving water and Brer Rabbit unsulphured full flavor molasses.

From January to about May 1st they were grown under pretty crappy led lights around 50 to 100 watts and mostly red until I got 200 watts stick white with red led around March and used those until I could get them into a greenhouse outside. I had to be careful with our solar system in the dead of winter, but in December we added four batteries to our battery bank and it won’t be a problem getting a SpiderFarmer or MarsHydro light for growing in the winter I should add that I live in rural Montana, at 5300 feet, so I have to wait until the frost danger is over, but I still bring them in each night. Just to be safe.

The girls were stretching like crazy under those crappy lights until they got the natural sunlight and BAM! Full out bushy growth. When they started flowering, I put up blackout curtains in the room they stay in at night to block any tiny bit of light, but I probably didn’t need to. We don’t have streets let alone streetlights. The colas are growing fat on the rest of my girls and I can probably cut them in about a month or so. I still have lots of white pistils on the rest and the trikes are going from clear to cloudy.

All in all I am super pleased with this grow! Thanks to you both Nebula and Sirius and my dear Popski for all your help!!

[SoOrbudgal]

Freakin awesome way to get a grow using suns energy. Sounds like you are up on what it's gonna take man that's great. That is something we'd love a picture of if you feel comfortable showing us. Good luck and stay well, you got this come back and share how it's going. Peace and happy growing from Oregon