How to build a 640W UPS Using Victron Parts

You can build an Online UPS which is better than commercially available UPS systems using Victron Energy parts. It will better protect your equipment from bad utility power because power fluctuations and surges will never be passed through to your equipment, and you can extend the run time to whatever you need by adding more batteries.

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Laptop Recommendations June 2022

See our “How to choose a computer” self-help page for more general recommendations on evaluating a laptop for solar power use. The below laptops are what we would recommend as of today for running on solar power using a Half-Pint. We have not evaluated how well Linux will run on them so do your homework if you plan on using Wasta or other Linux.

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Operating Starlink on Solar power

A lot of our folks are anticipating getting a Starlink Internet terminal in their remote village location in the next year or two. The “Dishy McFlatface” terminals and monthly fees are quite affordable, however Dishy requires a lot more power than a typical laptop computer, so powering it on solar will be a significant expense. Below are 3 reference designs for power systems capable of running your Starlink terminal different amounts of time each day. To keep costs down you’ll probably want to limit your Starlink Internet use to daylight hours and operate it less than 5 hours per day.

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