I recently started thinking about a small cabin I may build.  The property is quite remote, so there is no utility power.  I started thinking about the lighting system.  My plan is to use a 12 volt lighting system powered by a deep cycle battery.  The battery would be charged by an RV power converter when the generator is running, and charged/maintained by solar panels and/or a windmill the rest of the time.  I plan on using a low voltage system because of it's potential to be always ready, which is handy when arriving late at night.  Gas lights would require the propane tanks to be taken out or storage and connected, and 120 volt lighting would require setting up and starting the generator.  Kerosene lanterns are convenient but don't provide much light.

My original plan was to use LED recreational vehicle lights, after my experience with these.  One problem I see with using these is that they aren't really designed for larger areas.  RV ceilings are quite low, and our travel trailer, which is not very large, requires four to six lights (two 2-lamp and optionally two 1-lamp) lights.  Now the cabin itself won't be very big, it's certainly bigger (with higher ceilings) than a recreational vehicle, meaning it may take a lot of these lights to do the job.

One hardware store locally sells medium screw A15 60 watt 12 volt bulbs.  I could use conventional 1-2 bulb fixtures with these, but the battery drain would be an issue.  After looking around, I found medium screw LED bulbs, similar to the ones that have become common now, only these are designed for 12VDC.  These would reduce battery draw while still providing illumination similar to conventional mains-powered lighting.  If I went this route, I would probably wire them in a similar manner to a conventional lighting system, with wall switches and all.  This would allow the lighting system to be converted to 120 volt by simply changing connections at the power center and replacing light bulbs.

There would be a couple of lights that will be 120 volt and only operate when the generator is running.  One would be an outdoor yard light (most likely mercury vapor), and the other maybe a preheat fluorescent fixture inside.  I would intentionally avoid using medium screw lights for my high voltage lights to prevent any accidents putting the wrong bulb in the wrong voltage socket.

Because there is no power grid, I will definitely use just the 12V for lighting and do not mess it up with 120V at all. For lighting you do not need that much power these days, so it may stay just 12V.

I would start from really commercial light fixtures and convert them to LED's.
With battery you can not use the otherwise quite convenient light strips - they need pretty accurate 12V +/-2% supply, battery won't definitely meet that. With battery you have to count with the range of at least 8 to 15V, so these stripes would need some kind of buck-boost converter ballast to cover all of that to the 2% accurate 12V. At least a low drop regulator is needed to prevent the LED's from seeing higher voltage, it tends to overheat them quite significantly (reduced voltage is there only when the battery drains and there the gradually dropping brightness is rather an advantage).
The wide voltage range is usually handled quite well by the various "MR16" or similar LED retrofits, but strictly those designed to operate on AC (the DC only types usually rely on the 2% supply accuracy). The AC ones usually contain very limited filtering capacitor and the designers tend to compensate this by wide supply range converter (capable to deal with the high ripple, so inherently the wide voltage tolerance as well).

The AC (120V) installation I would make separated from the lighting and use it only for sockets in-house (and/or the high power lighting), intended to be operated only from the generator.

The 12V part will then be supplied from the PV panels, but alternatively from the 120V (regulated 13.8V for maintenance charge) once it is available (so once the genset is started, the lighting power will automatically come from that as well).

I would do exactly the opposite - inverter from 12V to 120V, and 120V Fluorescents from its output. The better spectral content of Fluorescents will more than cover up for the extra losses in conversion

For the Fluorescents, anything with Electronic ballast and no PFC (so pretty much all CFLs, and the more basic "home" grade T8 stuff) would be best. High end T8 may have ballasts with PFC, which may react in wacky ways to squarewave from the inverter. Magnetic i would not recommend to run on inverter, unless it is very good approximation of a sine wave. Definitely dont connect anything Magnetic and HPF to square wave or even "modified sine" wave

You can use a low power HF/H bridge type inverter for low loads, and separately a higher power inverter, that will be connected to 12V only when you want bigger load

The small inverter can be left running all the time if your battery/charging capacity allows it, or swtched on the 12V input side even with an ordinary switch (since it is low power, the current on the 12V will be still manageable - 10A is something to the order of 60W - That is several CFLs or 14W T5HE lights). Use thick wire in the 12V circuit to minimize voltage drop. Or use a relay. On the big inverter - that would take on the order of 100A at 12V, switch the 12V with a big switch (electrical panel switch), or with a big relay. Consider using higher DC voltage for the big inverter

I would do exactly the opposite - inverter from 12V to 120V, and 120V Fluorescents from its output. The better spectral content of Fluorescents will more than cover up for the extra losses in conversion

The thing is, when you have many lights, you will need either many individual inverters (then 12V ballast would be better option) or let one inverter running all the time. And that will drain the battery because of rather high idle current (usually in the range of 1% from the rated power, so 120mA for a 150V unit).
Switching the inverter will need extra wiring and will be everything but convenient to use (messing up with second switch or so) - the lights have to be controlled as any other lights in any home, as a user you should not care about any inverter or so.
Including remembering to switch it OFF when leaving for longer time to prevent the battery drain.

So what remains is really the complete 12V lighting installation - there when you turn ON a switch, corresponding light just turns ON as anywhere else. And when all switches are OFF, there is no battery drain (such as an idling inverter) at all, yet every light is permanently ready to be used any time needed.
Indeed, fluorescents with 12V ballasts will work, but the problem is, those more efficient ones need warmup time and that means leaving them ON longer. And that means more current drain from the battery.

The ting is, unlike mains power and even when it does not look so, here the electricity, mainly the one available all the time (so from the battery), is in fact very expensive, so really using highest efficiency systems is way more important than when you have connection to an utility grid (battery capacity, solar panel size to have sufficient margin for recharge,...).
And for the "efficiency" by far does not mean only more efficient bulbs alone, but include the ability to really preserve the power by switching the light OFF even for any minute when not needed, so allow very frequent switching, burn time per switching cycle being just few minutes without any consequence to life or worse performance (that's, where the fluorescent are lagging a lot - mainly the low efficacy when not yet warmed up) and so on.
In fact when taking all these into account, the regular incandescents (mainly the halogens or even the IRC ones) do not perform that bad, compare to e.g. the fluorescents never able to really warm up because switched off after short time and so on.
So even when the LED's appear to have lower efficacy than the fluorescents (70's instead of 90's when speaking about the "12V stripes"), the instant full brightness and even the ease of dimming (without any consequence on the efficacy - that is really unique to LED's) allows them to consume less energy from the battery. Plus their ability to work with really low power and still emit useful light becomes important, when your battery becomes really flat (after few days of "heavier" use and cloudy weather), does not make starting problems or so...

Here i am going to upgrade my Voltage as lead acid batteries kind sucked at low voltage, i am converting
To 48 volts,  as lowers current draw and better discharge curve, About to install  48 volt DC
 Ductless split system.  Also i have 1970s GE electronic
Rapid start. Ballast  for 48 volts.  And 48 volt incandescent.  But will have 12 volt for for general purpose circuits.  This how i plan my off grid set up.

Icefoglights, I like your ideas for sure!  You could also run everything as 120v through an inverter, that's how my (off-grid) house currently is.  But then again an inverter takes some juice just to run itself...but the watt/amp ratio of 120v is better than with 12v so I can't decide what is better.

I would, however, avoid the 12 volt incandescents...those things are energy hogs.

I know a lot of houses here that had double systems, with screw-in sockets for both voltages, and also with some outlets wired as 12v for 12v appliances.  And yeah, a 12v bulb in a 120v socket = BOOM!

These houses were all wired before inverters became so popular, though. 

And why not solar panels AND a wind turbine?  That's what I'd like to do here.

That place in Delta I'm trying to buy has solar...I hope I can go with NEVER running a generator in the summer months!

Multiple inverter system, taking down inverters when there is no load, and such, can be implemented with pretty straightforward relay circuits. Yep they would add load of a relay coil when the system is in use, but that is negligible (most relays take on the order of 1W or less)

Any PTC controlled Programmed Start ballast can handle frequent switching without too much wear to the lamp

The initial flux from cold lamp is not full power but is well sufficient to see, and if full light is needed, it is usually needed for longer time anyway. For full output allready at startup, try a T12 lamp on the same Electronic ballast - T12 lamps tend to start closer to full output than T8. If 20W is too much then the lamp can be underpowered to the sufficient power level, i guess a 20W T12 lamp will handle ok anything down to 14W..15W and maybe lower

It would not be hard to put in a master battery switch before the converter/loads but after the solar/wind charger connection which would cut off cut off the inverters, and I may put one in anyway.  However, I would like to stay away from having to use an inverter.  The primary use of the low voltage system would be lighting, with maybe a radio or TV that can be run off from it, but all 12v native.  There are 12v medium screw CFLs, but one of the frequent complaints about them is that frequent switching seems to hurt their life even more than frequent switching of mains voltage instant start CFLs.  There is also the warm-up issue, since one of the times they need to work right away would be coming to a completely cold building in freezing (possibly sub-0) temperatures.  In this respect, LEDs are better suited.  Running an inverter might mean needing to run the generator to keep up with battery drain.  The time of year when the lights would be most needed would also the the time of year that usable sunlight is at a minimum.  With the LED system, I think the low voltage system could stand on it's own longer.  The LEDs have sufficiently good light quality.  Certainly an improvement over a dim kerosene lantern and a 5000K LED flashlight.

I may pass on the main voltage indoor light, and my only main voltage light would be an outdoor yard light that would only be able to run when the generator is running.

The generator BTW would be about a 3600 watt portable gas unit powering the building through a 30 amp 120V connection, commonly used by recreational vehicles.

Seems like the 12v LED lights would be ideal for a situation like this
12v also means you can get one of those 12v-USB charger units & use that to power/charge things like a MP3 player & speakers for music, charge a phone, or whatever other little low-power devices (obviously keeping it to minimal use though LOL).

Even if you don't put a 120v light inside, I'd say put the wiring in for it anyway...so its there for future use if needed.

Another solution would to have 12v for general indoor lighting, And have 12 to 120v inverters for the outdoor lights, And for any appliances you have. You could even have a water turbine to have supplemental power, Or even a bicycle generator.
You should use LEDs for most of the illumination, It's the lowest power in this voltage range.

Yeah, how will batteries hold up in subzero temps?  What will you be using, 6 volt golf-cart batteries?  Group 27 car batteries?  8-Ds?  I run my house on three 8-Ds, and everything is run through an inverter.  It's a FAR cry from a "real" house bank but it gets the job done.  I run a 2000w Trace inverter/charger. 

I like the idea of running that yardlight off an inverter too.  Or get some low-voltage LED floods. 

For a radio, get an aftermarket car stereo kit, since they're 12v to begin with.  I've seen people do that around here it it works well.  You can also add a decent antenna to those without much trouble, since you might be in an iffy situation radio-wise if you're remote, though it seems to me like most anywhere in central interior AK you'd get umpteen FMs, the terrain is relatively flat and the Fairbanks radio stations are fairly high-powered. 

I would also suggest direct 12v system. There are lot's of 12v dc LED lamps with normal base so you can basically use what ever fixture you want with those. I would also get all the other devices that would be used there with 12v input if possible. Like laptop charger. IMO it's just a waste of battery capacity to first step up voltage with inverter to 120v and then drop it down with laptop charger. Instead you could buy laptop car/travel charger with 12v input and you save the amount of one voltage convert in efficiency and that way your battery capacity last longer. car radio is good idea. It can play cd's and if it's one with aux input you can connect any device that has audio output to it and listen throught it. There are also some tv's that has 12v dc input so once again eliminating unnecessary voltage conversion and improves efficiency that way. Also good lighting design is a key point to energy saving. in other words, right amount of light in right place. If you want to read a book in cozy chair it's not efficient to light brightly whole room. instead buy a floor lamp near to the chair and use that.

I would also think twice about running any mv outdoor light from inverter because those can eat your battery empty pretty quick. How big battery capacity you are planning to have?

My family's summerhouse is completely of grid and there are three separate building with common 12v 400Ah centralized battery system with solar panel and wind generator. There are some 230v lights and power outlets powered by gasoline generator but those are not used almost at all. we have a 12v led tv that's been doing it's job decently and compared to old 12v crt tv consumes very little energy. Lighting is handled mostly by 12v led lamps and CFL's with E27 base. There are some fluorescent fixtures with dc ballasts and some places still has 12v incandescent lamps (mostly in places like cellar where lights are not used frequently and good endurance of harsh environment like moisture and cold temperature is required)

If a battery has a charge, they hold up just fine.  If allowed to go dead, than they can freeze and be damaged.  The cold does slow the reactions that make the battery work, reducing it's output.  That's why a marginal car battery may seem fine in warm weather, but would barely be able to start the car in cold weather, when the remaining output is reduced by the cold, and at the same time, the motor is harder to turn over.  I was planning on using an AGM RV deep cycle battery.  That would prevent some of the freezing issues, as well as off gassing, since it would be inside the house, and to prevent corrosion of the connections.

I had thought about using a car radio, possibly mounted near the power converter with speakers mounted around the house.  I actually own a 12v LED TV that has a built-in DVD player.  It runs off 12v with a cord that can plug into a cigarette lighter, and uses an external "brick on a leash" AC adapter for mains power.  Could be used out there for watching DVDs, or plug it into a laptop/tablet for movies.  TV reception is another issue all together.  Back when my sister lived in the area, they had to use a large rooftop antenna with an amplifier to receive one fuzzy station.  Not sure how that would work now with digital TV.  Most reliable option would be to put up a satellite dish (I have an extra) and pack a dish receiver out there.  Both of those options require 120v to power their required equipment.  I also figure if I was settled in enough to be watching TV, the generator would probably be setup too.  Currently at my sister's cabin is an old 13" knob TV that I picked up from value village several years ago, an RF modulator and a cheap DVD player.  That setup would probably be sufficient too.

For outdoor lighting, I was going to have a simple porch light next to the door running off 12V, another light in the wood shed running off 12V, and a yard light (probably mounted on/near the wood shed) running off 120V.  The porch light would be enough light for after dark arrivals and departures, and the wood shed light would be enough for setting up/taking down the generator, and other activities.  Much like the TV, If I was busy enough outside to need the yard light, the generator would be running.  I may even set it up without a photocell to ensure the generator always sees a load when running.

For indoor lighting, the bedroom would simply have a single bulb light in the middle of the ceiling.  I may also take a small table lamp, put a 12v bulb in it, and cut 2-prong plug off the cord and replace it with a cigarette lighter style plug, with a 12v outlet to plug it into.  The kitchen area would be a 3 bulb ceiling light, probably with a little light over the stove.  The main living space is a little more tricky.  Simple ceiling lights would be easy if I went with a flat ceiling, but wall lights might work better if I went with a vaulted ceiling.  I could also position 12v outlets for converted table or floor lamps.

I like the "Brick on a Leash" description! I call them "Wall Warts".

With DTV, I have no idea.  But FM is still the same, in fact the same sort of rooftop Yagi antenna would work, no? 

Would you be living in this place more or less full time or something?

I like the cigarrette-lighter-plug idea, prevents those things from inadvertently being plugged into 120v. 

I say get an inverter for stuff like the TV satellite box and yardlight but have it turned on only when needed. Then run a generator only if needed for charging batteries if the solar/wind isn't enough. 

Get some 12v LEDs for most things.  Some are fairly nice now, though if you want to go cheap the nasty eBay-type "corn cob" units will get the job done.  I just don't like their color!  It's either WAY too blue-purple, or a sickly warm-white-like color. 

LED "tape" light works well too, a neighbor did that (12v DC of course, their house is also off grid like mine) as undercabinet lighting.  It's pretty nice! 

Although on the inside you can theoretically skip 120v lighting (hardwired anyway) altogether, but I'd have plenty of 120v outlets, powered by an inverter too.  (Only turned on when needed though). 

And just curious, as a a gonna-be-local of the area, approximately where are you thinking of building?  Out toward Chena Hot Springs or something?  (If you don't mind me asking). 

"Brick on a leash" isn't like a wall wart.  The transformer is in the middle of the cord, like a laptop charger.

It's near Kantishna, and I wouldn't live there full time.  Just a recreational cabin.  That's why the battery system won't be very big, mostly offering quick convenience things, similar to the travel trailer.  Larger stuff would need the generator.  Large appliances, like the stove and fridge would be propane, and heat would be from a wood stove.  I may try to find a pilot light stove, but thought about using a small inverter on a switch to power a spark ignition gas stove.  It would save having to deal with pilot lights.