Category Archives: → Project Planning

Blog posts of interest to Project Planners

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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Half-Pint Village Translation Station

Problem: A language worker needs to run Paratext and other translation software in his home village where there is no AC power available. We want a low-profile minimal system.

SolutionYoga-2-tablet: Use two or three Solartec solar panels connected to the Half-Pint Power Bank and a Lenovo Tablet 2 10-inch Windows tablet with Bluetooth keyboard. Permanently mount the panels on roof, with the Half-Pint indoors, and keep the tablet plugged into the Half-Pint whenever practical. Continue reading

Villager-III – What panels do I need?

The Villager-III system is sold without solar panels, so that you can choose the type that fits your needs best. Your choice will depend on how you want to trade off cost vs. weight vs. ruggedness vs. physical size. If you’re using the Villager as a portable system you won’t need a long heavy power cable or mounting brackets. However, for this discussion we’ll consider you want to permanently mount solar panels on your roof. Continue reading