Do you know have an off-grid solar system with battery backup? Have you ever wondered about the battery state of charge? Do you want to monitor how much energy went into or has been taken out of these batteries? Would knowing the battery’s health help you plan for their replacement one day?
Continue readingHow 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.
CPAP Power Options
Sometimes you need to travel or want to go camping. If you are a missionary, you may live in a location with unreliable power. How do you maintain stable power for medical devices like a CPAP?
Continue readingLaptop 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.
Continue readingOperating 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.
Continue readingChoose and Use an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
Most small UPSes are designed to keep IT equipment operating and prevent data loss during a SHORT power outage lasting only a very few minutes. When outages are frequent and/or many minutes long then additional issues arise that threaten the effectiveness of the UPS.
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