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Can I switch the 12V garden lighting in my residential complex on and off with Hermetry City, or is there another way for now?

Can I switch the 12V garden lighting in my residential complex on and off with Hermetry City, or is there another way for now?

Solved 5 4

Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

Hello. I am on the management board of my residential complex. There are 12V LED wall lights along the garden path and at the car park entrance. They are powered by a solar panel + 100 Ah battery and are currently switched on and off by a mechanical time switch with a potential-free contact. Every time the seasons change someone has to go and adjust the clock, and nobody does 🙂My plan: switch the lamps with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and manage them from Hermetry. I saw on the forum that Hermetry City is meant for street lighting and city services, so I am writing here. I have two questions:

  1. Can Hermetry City be used for this, and how do I open it?
  2. What is the easiest way to switch the 12V side? The total current of the lamps is around 4 A. Relay or MOSFET?

I can handle the backend side, but I am a beginner in electronics.

Ağ geçidi yine bağlanıyor…
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Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

I looked into City too, but I couldn’t find a page in the docs describing what it offers. A regular device + rules is already enough for this job.

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Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

I’d just get a relay module, that’s the easiest. One pin from the Pi, done.

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A relay would work too, but for two switchings a day a MOSFET is quieter and cleaner. My suggestion:A logic-level N-channel MOSFET (like IRLZ44N), low-side wiring. The positive of the lamps goes directly to 12V, the negative to the MOSFET’s drain, and the source to the battery (negative). Put a 100 Ω series resistor from the Pi’s GPIO to the gate, and a 10k pull-down between gate and source. Without the pull-down the lamps will flicker while the Pi boots. At 4 A the IRLZ44N runs comfortably without a heatsink. Don’t forget to join the Pi’s negative with the battery’s negative.For scheduling, use the Rules card in Hermetry:

  • When: Sunrise or sunset, sunset, offset -15 minutes
  • Then: Send command, device Pi, command light.set, parameter on: true
  • A second rule: sunrise, on: false

You need to add the command to the Commands catalog of the device profile. The site’s location must also be entered, otherwise the card won’t save: the location of the nearest asset on the device is used. Details: Rules card: triggers.On the Pi side, subscribe to the topic v1/rpc/req/+, drive the pin when light.set arrives, and reply via v1/rpc/res/<id>. That way the seasonal worry goes away too.

Accepted solution♥ 3

Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

Derya Hanım, thank you very much, it has been working for two days. On the first save the card showed a location warning; after I added the site as an asset and entered the coordinates, it saved. I connected the MOSFET with a pull-down, and now the lights no longer blink while the Pi boots. I had also tried a relay, but the clicking sound apparently bothered the guard 😄

Ağ geçidi yine bağlanıyor…
♥ 0

Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

We have the same setup in a park lighting test as well, and it works without problems with a sunset offset. Also send the battery voltage as telemetry, so if the panel is not enough in winter you will see it in advance.

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