12V LED Aluminum Garden Lights

I don't like those solar lights with low brightness and cheap materials that fade within few weeks. So I made my own LED garden lights to use in my drive way and backyard that are modern, elegant and cheap to make. Powered by 12V controlled from my alarm system which turns it on automatically at given hour, made from anodized aluminum. Parts for those lights cost about $3/piece.

You need:

1. anodized aluminum profile, 1 meter, 3 pieces,
2. milky plastic over, 1 meter, 3 pieces,
3. 4x40 screws with M4 nuts, 12 pieces.
4. 12V LED strip, 90cm.
5. 2-wire cable, 3 meters

You also need power supply to power it, but I'll not go into details here because each installation is different. I'm powering my lights with 12V 20W power source controlled with my alarm system. You can use a switch, light sensor, PIR sensor or whatever you like.

Start with cutting each aluminum profile in half. That way you will end up with 6 pieces, 50cm each.

Also make two holes about 3cm apart with 4,2mm drill. Best to choose the side that your previously cut. This side is going under the ground so if your cut is not clean you don't need to don't worry about it.

The cheapest way to make sure that your light is installed securely in the ground is to equip it with an anchor. This will make the light more stable.

I'm using 4x40 screws to create an anchor-like shape.

Now cut LED strip into 15cm peaces. You can go for more but I decided that in my 50cm light only 30cm will be above the ground and only half of that will be glowing.

Solder two wires to the strip, use shrink tube to make sure that moisture is not going to be a problem in the future, then stick the strips inside each aluminum profile and close the white milky cover.

Now you need to connect lights to your power system and stick them in the ground.

If you like it, you can vote for my project in top right corner of this page. Thank you!