[TriEmbed] Solar Power Project

[Chip McClelland]

> On May 11, 2015, at 5:59 PM, Burr Sutter <burrsutter at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 1:25 PM, Chip McClelland via TriEmbed <triembed at triembed.org <mailto:triembed at triembed.org>> wrote:
> To all, 
> 
> I won’t be able to make the meeting tonight (darn day job!).  But, I wanted to share the board, designs and software for that solar power management board I talked about at the last meeting. Details and link here <https://twitter.com/chipmc86/status/597811201230376961>.  Here is the punch-line: On a 2000mAH LiPo battery, I can keep my cellular data logger fully charged and reporting hourly with only 3 hours of sunlight a week.  Not bad.
> That sounds awesome
> how often do we have whole weeks with zero sunlight? :-)

My thoughts exactly, I guess shade counts too so I need to place this in a good spot.
>  
> 
> Based on the overwhelming feedback from the last meeting, I have also purchased a big 8AH 12V Sealed Lead Acid battery and started a run down test.  If you are at all interested, I you can watch the current status here <http://app.ubidots.com/ubi/getchart/page/fwweXqpV5QlRbiZ8nzEvou4nNi8>.  So far so good with almost 24 hours dropping the battery from 13.12 to 13.07.  From what I have read <http://www.solarnavigator.net/battery_charging.htm>  I need to stop the test once the battery gets to 11.9 - this could take a while.
> 
> I have heard those are relatively inexpensive. The boaters and RV enthusiasts apparently have them.  I am looking for a solution to power a "pond pump" to keep a tiny water fall/filter system working.  Where did you pick up the battery from?

From Amazon,here <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009GIKNE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1> is what I ordered.
>  
>  Based on this test, I may need to invest in a 12V solar panel and charger as well.  
> 
> Do you feel you need both solutions for your data logger?

Not sure, but - again - from what I read, slowly and deeply discharging a sealed lead acid battery can damage it.  In fact, in all the discharge curves <http://www.batteryweb.com/manuals/techman.pdf>, they don’t show anything less than 0.05C which yellds a 20 hour discharge.  Not sure how this battery will stand up to a slow discharge over weeks or months.  So, Solar may be needed to keep it topped off for long life.  Any thoughts from the group on this?

Thanks for the interest in this project.
>  
> 
> Thanks again for all your help and advice.  Sorry I will miss the meeting tonight - I always end up learning something.
> 
> Chip
> 
> 
> 
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