For several years I’ve used a Raspberry Pi Zero for sensors, camera & door motor control which opens & closes a chicken coop door. The Rpi & controller is 5v, the motor is 12v. This has been powered by around 50’ of extension cord, but the elements are beginning to weather the cord & we also need to move the chickens further away from our mains. I think it is time to implement solar. I aspire to assemble a PV, battery, & converter system which:
- Uses an off-the-shelf 12v PV panel (30w or so)
- Uses LiFePO cells for heat resiliency & stability
- Provides both 12v & 5v power
- Isn’t proprietary; uses standard, easily-sourced components… unless it meets specs perfectly & isn’t terribly expensive.
- Minimal power draw; at most 2 amps @ 12v for 10 seconds twice daily.
Does anyone have suggestions regarding this configuration, know of a post, blog, or video which does something similar, or is willing to ID components you’d recommend for this project?
Not OP but this is really neat. Thanks.
Over the past few days my system has been severely under performing in relation to these calculations. For January it says 290 Wh per day, but I’m only seeing 50. I do have a lot of trees, so probably some shading… maybe even a lot of shading.
Jan 290.3 Feb 392.9 Mar 387.1 Apr 400.0 May 387.1 Jun 400.0 Jul 419.4 Aug 387.1 Sep 400.0 Oct 322.6 Nov 300.0 Dec 290.3