BUILD AN AUTOMATIC NIGHT LIGHT

In our home we usually have a light bulb that illuminates the entrance, the courtyard garden and
suede clothing. As a light that is on the outside of the house, who has not forgotten to turn it off?
The left turned on for hours and hours in the day and sometimes for weeks, making an
unnecessary power consumption.
Thinking about a solution to this problem, we designed an electronic device that handles light a
bulb, when the sun goes down and automatically shuts off when the sun returns to appear at dawn
as lighting lamps lighting.
Another our motivations for this circuit is to introduce some components such
as optocouplers and Triacs, teaching its basic operation.

Schematic diagram
This circuit operates with voltages from 120-220 volts without having to make any
changes. Therefore the capacitor ( C1 ) of the current input (225) is at least 250 volts and the
rectification condenser ( C2 ) (22 uF) is 350V, because if this circuit fed with 220 volts AC, when
They are rectified become approximately 330 volts DC.
The bulb can be up to 100W. You can use one for more power as long as change
the Triac BT136 for one that supports more amps as BTA08600 , supporting up to 8 amps. Do
not forget to use a heatsink to keep the Triac refrigerated.

What follows is a brief explanation of the role of each component of the circuit.

One of the great virtues of this circuit is that NO

NEED TRANSFORMER. In this case we use a
very simple circuit low voltage and rectifies,
saving money and space.
The capacitor ( C1 ) of 2.2 uF polyester is in
series with the input voltage public network,
restricting the flow of current (amperes). This
capacitor allows the passage of only
approximately 60 mA, providing voltage
reduction to be made later. 330K resistor ( R1 )
which is in parallel with the capacitor ( C1 ), is
responsible for discharging the capacitor when the circuit off, preventing the condenser is charged
and can send an electric shock, when handling the circuit.
In the other cable input from the public network is a 10 ohm resistor (R2 ) which functions as a
fuse and also helps to limit the current.
After the current passes through the capacitor
and resistor, reaches a diode bridge formed by
four rectifying diodes, which are responsible for
separating the positive half cycles of negative,
delivering them separately and then be rectified
by a capacitor ( C 2) converting alternating
current ( AC ) into direct current ( DC ).
Recall that to rectify a current the voltage rises,
multiplying by root of 2 is 1.4141 . This means
that for a 120 volt AC power, we get to the diode
bridge output voltage of 169 volts, 2 volts less
consumption of the bridge and some lost, have
approximately 157 volts. And for a supply of 220
volts AC , we will have an output voltage of about 305 volts DCapprox. For this reason the source
rectifier capacitor must be 350 volts, otherwise it will explode when connecting the circuit.

Now that the grinding and a small current voltage, we must lower the voltage to 10 volts DC. For
this we use a zener diode . It is important to note that a zener diode NOT to be connected
without their respective bias resistor that limits the current that feeds the zener, otherwise the
zener will burn.
The 39K resistor 5 watts ( R3 ) we see in the picture It is the zener bias resistor. It needs to be a
5W, as the effort you have to do to lower the current, generates a relatively high heat. The formula
for calculating this resistance is: RZ = Vt - Vz / Iz . polarization resistance = total voltage minus
the zener voltage divided by the ampere zener We must: 305VDC - 10 = 295VDC / 0.02 = 14,750
ohms Amp . It could be a resistance of15K , but when the test is too hot, so we wanted to find the
highest resistance before the voltage drops power failure. The maximum resistance is 47K and the
minimum without excess heat is 33K.

Resistors in parallel to achieve the

required power

NOTE: If you are unable to 49K resistor 5W,

remember that Ohm's law says that if we put
in parallel several resistors of the same value,
the value is divided by the amount of resistance and power adds. So if we need a 39K resistor 5W,
we can put in latitude 5 200K resistors 1 W, obtaining a 5W 40K, which is very approximate to the
required value.
In the picture we see the other components that
accompany the zener diode.
The 10K resistor ( R4 ), helps the zener to
handle the load. Runs parallel to earth with the
zener diode.
The 47 uF capacitor ( C3 ) and the ceramic
capacitor of 0.1 uF ( C4 ) rectified again current,
removing any curls.
When we tested on the breadboard without
these two capacitors notice that the bulb
flickered slightly, especially when using a neon
lamp. For this reason we place, achieving a stable, flicker lighting.

We have finished explaining the power supply.

Now comes the circuit that handles the
automation on to detect darkness and off by
detecting light.
The rheostat we see in the photograph ( RV1 )
is part of a voltage divider together with a
photoresistor. You can place a fixed resistor 10
or 15K, but the rheostat gives the possibility to
scale the sensitivity of the circuit. Moving on :
When the current passes through the resistor
and reaches the center point between the resistor and the photoresist. If the photoresist is
receiving light, low impedance 0 ohms, negatively biasing the base of the transistor. When the
environment is dark, the photoresist impedance rises to over 100K, restricting the flow of
current.Then positively it biases the base of transistor 2N3904 .

The photoresist or RDL (light dependent resistor) is a

variable resistor that changes its impedance according to
the amount of light absorbed on its surface.
As can be seen in the picture, we have a coating placed
on the bottom . This in order to not receive light below,
because if this happens, will not work correctly.Not
wanting to stay glued to the resistance of the printed
circuit board, use a piece of an old pen and covered with
black tape. Good location photoresist accuracy depends
on the performance of our circuit.
Returning to the operation of our automatic light circuit. When the photoresist has a very high
impedance, positively it biases the base of transistor 2N3904 (NPN). At that point between the
transistor collector and emitter, negatively polarizing the base of transistor 2N2907 PNP polarity
is. This means that conducts when its base is
stimulated with a negative voltage. When the
transistor 2N2907 , pass a positive collector-
emitter voltage and reaches the optocoupler.

Note: The transistor 2N2907 was placed in

both directions, investing collector and
emitter. And in the two positions, the circuit
operational.So in photographs Article it is
contrary to the mask component. You can place
it to either side and test your sensitivity. The
idea of these projects is to acquire knowledge
and practice.

The optocoupler is a solid state relay, also

known by the name of opto-isolator or
optically coupled isolator. In the case
of MOC3021 , their legs 1 and 2 are internally
diode LED that light, excites a Phototriacthat
allows conduct current between the legs 4 and 6
of the optocoupler. It is used to electrically
isolate the above circuit is powered at 10 volts
and a few milliamps, the part where we drive
voltage grid.
This is one of the great advantages of using an
optocoupler, as it serves to isolate a circuit another, avoiding disaster when a short circuit.
When the transistor 2N2907 leads, sends a voltage to the LED located within the MOC3021. As
the voltage reaches the optocoupler is 10 volts and an LED can only be supplied with 3 volts, we
put a 390 ohm resistor in series with the pin 2 which is the ground pin or negative.
 The TRIAC is a semiconductor device family of transistors ,
but with the difference that can lead in two directions. Ie
which can lead AC, something that can not make the
transistors. They are also called relay solid state.
It has three legs: T1 , T2 and G . (gate in English is Gate)
When the optocoupler is driven by the transistor, this leads
among its pins 4 and 6, sending a current to the Triac
gate. The triac conducts current from the public grid and as
the bulb is set, this lights. At the moment there is no power
to the gate of Triac, this turns off and the light bulb goes off.

Note: The triac only opens and closes the current aso, so
both can turn any type of bulb that is fed to the public
grid. We tested the circuit with saving lamps, obtaining the same result as incandescent
bulbs. Also we tried with a LED lamp and a home recorder.

When the resistance does receive light, this low

impedance, and negatively biases the base of
transistor 2N3904 . Since this transistor
is NPN , leads and therefore also the other
transistor, or theoptocoupler and also the
logic Triac .
If we want to address the photoresist to a
specific point of light we can intubate, as shown
in the picture. This is used for alarms or for
example to raise the garage door to turn on the
lights. Well; We leave to the imagination of each endless possibilities from such a simple circuit,
but useful as this.
 Incandescent bulb Saving Lamp LED Lamp

Note : read it thoroughly to understand the circuit operation. Not only by arming arm. When it's
clear the operation of an apparatus, there will be obstacles when building it.
Before you begin, read our section on Recommendations . Contains many "tips" that will be very
useful in the construction of any of our projects.
We have provided the connection diagram in breadboard for electronics students who want to
practice and do their own variations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCiZvNEcqPg