G+_Travis Hershberger Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Got a work DIY project to the deployable point today. Kinda basic, but was fun to put together the hardware and software for. https://mangolassi.it/topic/9738/diy-environment-monitoring https://mangolassi.it/topic/9738/diy-environment-monitoring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Dig it! Been pondering a 'weather station' for years now. Mulling over photocells on top of the temp sensor scattered about, to show temp in the sun vs shade. (and of course dumping to a CSV file for database processing and mapping/charting.) Did that for a year+ on wind speed from local airport and found out a windmill would be a waste of money here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 Eddie Foy Nice. If I lived ~60 miles north a windmill would be great, that'd put me right on the shore of lake Erie. Both solar panels and windmills have terrible performance around here. If you really want sustainable power around here, it's geothermal or nuclear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Keith Mallett Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Travis Hershberger Eddie Foy Nuclear! Go Nuclear!!! I'm trying to convert both my home and my camper to Solar. Of course, the term 'trying' is very misleading. I'm more of in the 'design stages". Don't have enough land to go geothermal or windmills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Keith Mallett remember you, on average, only have about 4-6 hours a day of viable sunlight. Thats a short time to charge storage batteries while running stuff to boot. Size accordingly. Unless grid-tied then most of that will go to the grid, since most people are at work during the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Keith Mallett Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Hey Eddie Foy I know, you are so right, All of my test with the little solar cells have been very poor. I was thinking of taking a course before spending any more money but I think looking at alternative green sources of energy is the right choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 I'm of the opinion that solar panels take up to much space compared to how much energy they put out. At least with a solar sterling that 4-6 hours of power generation would be more useful with a much smaller footprint. Article from way back in 2000: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-engines-the-future-of-solar-power/ Of course that still isn't going to provide an off the grid capability in our areas of the country. Ideally we'd be able to use geothermal, but those deep wells are expensive to drill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 I have a "For Dummies" or a "For Complete Idiots" (forgot which) book on it. Was pretty good. And flows info better the scouring the intertubes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Keith Mallett Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Yeah I fit both descriptions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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