I would point out that running 8 strips in series would result in around 8 * 20VDC = 160VDC of head voltage. This can be considered as a safety hazard. Of course, if you take all the precautions necessary (proper grounding of the frame, no touchable contacts, etc...), these hazards can be mitigated....

hey there, i was looking at building 2 lights with the 280mm gen2 strips and was hoping someone could double check my driver choice. i was thinking: 8 strips in parellel wired to a HLG- 80H- C700 ? and another 6 strips on a seprate HLG- 60H- C700 ? i just want to make sure im not going to fry the L...

You're right - the tool is for gen. 1. The voltage is kind of in a funny place for these gen.2 strips. It ends up being riiiiight at the bottom of a 24V driver's adjustment range, and juuust out of reach of a 20V driver's max voltage. To play it safe, you might want to just run series on this one. ...