This post covers the design of a low-cost solar irradiance sensor. This type of sensor is called a ‘pyranometer‘, (from the Greek “pyr” (fire) and “ano” (sky/heaven)) and there are a wide range of units available, typically very expensive, but accurate! I wanted to design a lower cost unit which can be easily interfaced with … more
We were asked, by a good friend from Wild Stoves, to produce a portable solar PV off-grid power supply system. Wild stoves supply equipment for efficient outdoor cooking on wood. They run workshops on efficient burning of wood and sell equipment at a number of festivals over the summer. We had been asked to add … more
It is very useful to measure the current against voltage characteristic for a solar photovoltaic panel. Here I shown how I built an I (current) against V (voltage) curve tracer for solar photovotlaic panels which is battery powered and can be used ‘in the field’. The output is displayed on a full colour LCD display, … more
Re-innovation were behind the original solar car kits used by reaction education. They supply renewable energy and engineering activities for a wide range of educational events. Their main activity is to design, build and race a model solar powered car. The kit includes a number of solar panels, motors, wheels and gears along with a … more
Here are collected notes and ideas on building your own solar photovoltaic (PV) panel. These come from a number of places including attending a course run by Dan Quiggin of Demand Energy Equality, web-searching, discussion with Norman Phipps of Handmade Solar and also running my own DIY PV workshop at Nottingham hackspace. I feel that … more
A report written for Digital Campus which reviews a number of solar PV lanterns with a view to deployment in Ethiopia. This report was written to look at using solar PV lanterns to recharge smart mobile phones in remote locations. … more
This kit contains all the parts you need to start your off-grid journey. It is a DIY micro solar PV (photovoltaic) system, which includes a 10Wp solar panel, charge regulator and voltmeter, all encased in a laser cut wooden enclosure. This can be used to power small loads such as charging mobile phones, running a small sound system or even charging a laptop. … more
This is a simple design worksheet for stand-alone solar PV systems. It explains the design process and explains some of the practicalities of building a system. This document is open source. … more
Here are some details on the prototype for the ‘build your own’ solar power system I ran as a workshop at the Nottingham hackspace. I’m pretty pleased with how it looks. Basically it is a micro solar PV (photovoltaic) system, which includes a 10Wp solar panel, charge regulator and voltmeter, all encased in a laser … more
re-innovation were behind the original solar car kits used by reaction education. They supply renewable energy and engineering activities for a wide range of educational events. Their main activity is to design, build and race a model solar powered car. The kit includes a number of solar panels, motors, wheels and gears along with a … more
A friend has been using a beautiful 50’s caravan to head to festivals and sell efficient outdoor cooking apparatus, through his company wildstoves.co.uk. He had already installed a 12V lighting system and a deep cycle battery. This year he planned on expanding his system and incorporating solar PV power. Already a very low user of … more
During 2007 this simple solar photovoltaic (PV) system has provided some of my energy needs (OK, a pretty small percentage I’ll admit). In total there are approximately 40W(peak) of PV panels. … more