XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated, rec.radio.amateur.equipment

OZ9QV : Amateur Radio, Propagation and Electronics

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Idea Box: A Small Solar Lighting System Etc. for the Bedroom.

Posted: 20 Jun 2022 03:00 PM PDT http://oz9qv.blogspot.com/2022/06/idea-box-small-solar-lighting-system.html


Overview:
Using some GEL batteries for providing light in the bedroom. Using small
panels mounted to the "top window panes", and a simple charge controller,
e.g. the 10A model I already have. Tests of small solar panels will have to
be made to see if they can provide sufficient power for the night light, as well as power for MP3 player(s) and amplifier(s), so some audio (e.g. audio books) can be played in there. If necessary, an externally mounted solar
panel can be used, but a fully indoor system is preferred.
If this works a similar system can be used in the living room. Both rooms
have windows facing South, so it might be possible.
A bit of testing and design:
All this should be tested, (and possibly used) until a more permanent
system can be made for solar powering more of the house, e.g. a solar
powered audio player system.
A video player system will require more power, but this can be a start
before more solar (entertainment) becomes available in the house.
Bedroom system:
Here is an idea for a small solar power system for the bedroom. As you can imagine, the power requirements for bedroom lighting are not very large, so
I would like to add a low power "entertainment system", just for audio,
some very low level "orientation lighting" with short LED strips,
a "reading light", and a tiny audio system with one of my MP3 players, so I
can listen to audio books when resting there, and a charger for the mobile devices, such as phone, tablets and e-readers. I suspect that I can keep
the daily energy consumption down to some 10s of Wh, so I need to make
myself a budget.
First I will have to test the energy consumption of the different devices I have, then calculate the needed overhead of power, e.g. make an estimate of
the number of sun-less days I need to have energy storage for.
I finally located some small panels I have. They are so-called 20W ones. I
need to test them to see how it works in full sunlight (open circuit
voltage and short circuit current test), and how they they work behind my windows I will try to make the system with some of those. I have 9 of them,
so I should get sufficient power for some low light and some audio in the bedroom, probably using 3 or 4 of them. Even if they are only 10 - 15W the system should work. An effective 40W will likely be sufficient for the
bedroom system.
Somewhere I should have a box of single cells and very small panels that I should test and see if I can get sufficient power out of them for similar systems
For similar systems I might also try to salvage some small panels from
worn-out (discarded) solar-power-packs as well.
If I consider the idle current draw for the charge controller too high, I
have to make a simple one myself, or a switching circuit for disconnecting
it when there is no sunlight.
If I get satisfied with this system I may make other low power systems for other uses, e.g. a weather station with remote sensing and rechargeable batteries as power supply.
Let this be the first test ...

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