Solar powered Sheeva Plug
Solar power Sheeva Plug proof of concept.
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Wow, this is great!! congrats!
Thats great Info, I would like to do something similar to that, just to run a 24/7 downloads of the internet, would anyone contact me with ideas at chris.imo_(AT)_gmail_(DOT)_com
what other ideas do you need? Just run rtorrent and you’re good to go.
Can some please give an URL to making this same solar setup for the Sheeva Plug.
There must eba charge controller in the hardware somewhere so that the battery gets charged, and then switches over to the solar pael etc etc
When I talked with the person who build it, he told me that it was a solar kit from a while back. I did a quick search and found that sundancesolar.com have 5w solar kit that charges a 12v battery. I suppose you can get something like that and then rig a 12v to 5v converter to get the output to 5v.
I have a 12v solar power system that charges a bank of batteries. Right now I run a Linksys NSLU2 and all my networking equipment off of it. I built a 5v power supply with a very high efficiency switching regulator. I used the Murata Power Solutions 78SR 2 Amp Series - I bought mine from mouser.com. I takes the voltage from the battery (10-15v) and provides a stable 5v supply. I plan on using the same power supply for my Sheeva Plug. For more information see “How to make a battery powered slug” (http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/HowTo/MakeABatteryPoweredSlug) and scroll down to the section titled “Powering a NSLU2 from a 12 Volt Battery.” The same concepts apply to powering a Sheeva Plug from a 12v battery system.
Very cool, I’m surprise the NSLU2 draws about 3 watts during a file transfer.
Wouldn’t there be a significant power loss in the 12V > 5V transfer? Would that still be more efficient than AC>DC transfer? I run our entire house on DC, with AC through an inverter, and being able to run this 24/7 on DC would be great, if it actually took less power.
I suspect the reason he had to use a 12v regulator is because the output of the solar panel he had around the house outputs 12v. If you can find a panel or battery/charging unit that outputs 5v then you can plug it directly into the sheevaplug mainboard.
The power loss depends on the type of 12 to 5 volt regulator / converter used. The 78SR series switching devices have high efficiency. Small DC-DC converters are typically quite efficient too. Ordinary 7805 style devices use an internal series pass transistor, with excess energy being dissipated as heat.
Does anyone know that type of molex used by the J3 plug? Maybe a Digikey number?
Thanks.
Dick
I just love solar energy, i live near a beach so im using solar power, costs a good amount to setup but pays for itself after a few years easily.