Play video one year ago i began building my own solar system to provide power for my village house.
Arduino red board solar panel measurements.
The mini solar panel.
This device keeps a flat panel holding a solar cell continuously following the sun as it moves across the sky.
Arduino mega 2560 r3 board.
Arduino s analog inputs can be used to measure dc voltage between 0 and 5v when using the.
Components arduino duemilanove board 12v solar panel 1n4007 diode 25v 100uf capacitor 9v rechargeable battery and connector a breadboard and some wires suggested red and black a multimeter to measure tensions 1 green power arduino datasheet suggests us to power it with 6 20v being aware that the upper limit could be dangerous.
Solar panels mppt solar panel regulator controller.
The arduino senses the solar panel and battery voltages by using two voltage divider circuits.
In this system solar panel will move in the direction of sun from sun rise to sun set.
Project tutorial by jeffrey.
Measuring solar radiation with arduino.
You may use various batteries that has the voltage of 3 0v 4 2v to shift up for 5v output or put on li ion battery and solar panel to form an autonomous sensor unit.
The solar charger is a stackable shield to arduino compatible platforms enables adaptive battery power and act as energy harvester for in field charging.
Finally i made a pwm charge controller.
The arduino uses 2 light dependent resistors ldrs that are separated by a fin to compare the light levels on either side and then rotate the servo attached to the panel towards the more illuminated ldr until the two detectors are equal.
We have performed a basic measurement test and we have also added the voltage measurement with an arduino mega 2560 r3 board and visualization and data collection with node red and node red dashboard.
According to these voltage levels it decides how to charge the battery and control the load.
Well make your own device with your arduino board using this guide.
Voltage is measured by the help of a voltage divider circuit as the arduino analog pin input voltage is restricted to 5v i designed the voltage divider in such a way that the output voltage from it should be less than 5v my battery used for storing the power from the solar panel is rated 6v 5 5ah so i have to step down this 6 5v to a voltage lower than 5v.
Initially i made a lm317 based charge controller and an energy meter for monitoring the system.
The solar panels need to generate 266ma on average during the daylight hours but the one i chose a 12v 3w panel only generates about 210ma max in the usable voltage range so two need to be paralleled which yields 420ma which is well over the current required for that winter day in louisville.
