Off-world Power Generation Lab 1: Free Space 1W Transmission
Overview
[large panel] > [regulator] > [battery] > [pi] SPACE
> [regulator] > [laser] =====> [small panel] > [regulator] > [battery] > [arduino]
- Use a full-sized solar panel to power a large battery through a commercial regulator.
- Use the large battery to power a raspberry pi.
- Use the large battery to power a small laser through a voltage regulator that reports the delivered power.
- Add an on/off switch to the laser circuit that is controlled by the pi.
- Point the laser at a diffraction lens that illuminates a small solar panel.
- Use the small solar panel to power a small battery through a voltage regulator that reports the delivered power.
- Use the small battery to power...
- something simple, a fan or a light, through a usb multimonitor
- an arduino that can monitor the voltage and current
- a lan-connected raspberry pi that can monitor the energy and call an API to report snapshot values.
Remember: we regulate the voltage, everywhere. Only voltage can force current where it is not wanted.
Gear
Primary
- 100W solar panel
- solar power regulator - I have no idea if this will do the job yet... but it's on the way!
- 88 Wh battery
- fully-configured raspberry pi 3, hostname Lime
- $45 300mW laser
- small solar panel
- 15 Wh battery
- Arduino Uno
Secondary
- arduino starter kit
- Multimeters
- 190-540nm laser goggles for our 405nm laser
- lots of experimental voltage regulators, what works is still TBD
- Winners® 7A DC 60V Adjustable Step Down Regulator
- LM317 on a board with a dial
- a bag of LM317T Adjustable Regulators really popular, need heatsinks!
- Ultra Low Voltage Boost Converter i looked hard for a very-low-voltage booster, will this work? the 5V booster of projects i found is no longer avail
- Arduino Compatible Expansion Board
- a full power supply kit, probably good to build-and-learn, and also probably very useful
- uugear witty pi mini x2 to turn the pi on/off on a timer - hopefully i can use the arduino instead but it's an option
- Breadboards
- USB cables and adapters
More
- cheap <$1 5mW laser
- fully-configured raspberry pi 3, hostname Carambola
- bare Arduino Uno
Connectors
- large panel uses MC4 connectors: we got a bunch of connectors to splice wire into
- commercial solar regulator: raw wire input/output
- Output: 12V Battery (make sure to config to use 12V not 24V)
- Input: Max solar Panel Power: 360W
- large battery
- some sad Japan Jack Input: 14-25V, 3A
- USB Output: 5V/2A USB (12V/6A, 16V/5A, 19V/4.5A, 24V 3.5A??) - USB QC: 5V/3A, 3.6V-12V, 18W Max.?) wtf
- laser power: raw wires - replace power supply with an inline resistor??
- small battery uses USB out, microusb in: we got a bunch of usb connectors and cables
- Output: 5V/1A USB
- Input: 5-6V/1A MicroUSB
Goals
- monitor delivered power
- keep the arduino powered 24/7
- add an interesting load at the far end
- put a pi at the far end to read and report power
- forum notes on getting digital power read on pi
- measure pi voltage via an arduino would be excellent to pull off, we could report it via an API call to a bitpost service
- make the pi sleep
- use an arduino! uugear explanation
- if arduino is a pita, use witty pi 2 or witty pi mini board with pi, it runs its own clock, can turn raspberry pi on/off, can pulse battery supply to keep it alive, should make a sleeping pi arrangement SO MUCH easier [1] mini pinout
TODO
- understand what the laser needs; see here perhaps and more from him
- need POTENTIOMETER(S) (variable resistance) to adjust power to laser
- all the regulators
- more breadboards, perfboards, any needed soldering thingees
- pi uses some adapter bullshit
- arduino is also a pita
- consider this sparkfun boost converter, handles low power
Performance
Solar collection efficiency: 6.4kg 100W panel = 15.6 W/kg
Solar collection cost: $115 100W panel = $1.15/W
Solar storage efficiency: 88.8 Wh $129 Voltaic lipo battery, weighs ?? 2kg? ~ 44 Wh/kg
Solar storage cost: 88.8 Wh $129 Voltaic lipo battery = $1.45 / Wh