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 readingCategory Archives: → Project Planning
Choose 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.
Continue readingAsus P3B LED Projector evaluation
The Asus P3B is a bright Mini LED projector rated 800 ANSI lumens with an internal 45Wh battery. I had the chance to test an Asus P3B portable projector briefly before it was sent off to it’s new owner in Africa. I measured it’s power consumption and did a short subjective evaluation of it.
Continue readingHalf-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.
Solution: 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
How Many Watthours?
Watt-Hour Estimates for small 12V Solar Power Systems
When choosing a solar power system you need solar panels and batteries that can supply and store more than the average watt-hours you will be needing each day to run your equipment.
You may have heard of watts, but are wondering what a watt-hour is. 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