Solar Planes Are Hard
A regular comment we see on electric aircraft is to “just add solar panels to the wings.” [James] from Project Air has been working on just such a solar plane, …read more Continue reading Solar Planes Are Hard
Category Archives: mppt
Sun on the Run: Diving into Solar with a Mobile PV System
For obvious reasons, there has been a lot of interest in small-scale residential solar power systems lately. Even in my neck of the woods, where the sun doesn’t shine much …read more Continue reading Sun on the Run: Diving into Solar with a Mobile PV System
Solar Powered E-bike Replaces Car Trips
E-bikes can replace car trips for some people, and adding a solar panel can make the fun last longer. [Luke] did some heavy modifications to his RadWagon to make it …read more Continue reading Solar Powered E-bike Replaces Car Trips
Ebike Charges in the Sun
Ebikes are slowly taking the place of many cars, especially for short trips. Most ebikes can take riders at least 16 kilometers (10 miles) without too much effort, at a …read more Continue reading Ebike Charges in the Sun
Hackaday Prize 2022: Compact Solar Tracking System Doesn’t Break the Bank
If you need to squeeze every available watt out of a solar panel, you’ll probably want to look into a solar tracking system. Unfortunately, they are usually quite large, heavy, …read more Continue reading Hackaday Prize 2022: Compact Solar Tracking System Doesn’t Break the Bank
Maximum Power Point Tracking: Optimizing Solar Panels
When looking at integrating a photovoltaic solar panel into a project, the naive assumption would be that you simply point the panel into the general direction of where the Sun …read more Continue reading Maximum Power Point Tracking: Optimizing Solar Panels
2022 Hackaday Prize: Get Your Planet-Friendly Power On!
Time flies! This weekend marks the end of the first stage of the 2022 Hackaday Prize, and your chance to enter your alternative-energy projects. There are ten $500 prizes up …read more Continue reading 2022 Hackaday Prize: Get Your Planet-Friendly Power On!
Tracking Maximum Power Point for Solar Efficiency
In days of yore when solar panels weren’t dirt cheap, many people (and even large energy companies) used solar trackers to ensure their panels were always physically pointed at the …read more Continue reading Tracking Maximum Power Point for Solar Efficiency
The Cult of Really Low-Power Circuits: Scrounging, Sipping, and Seeing Power
If you’ve ever tried to make a really low-power circuit — especially one that runs on harvested power — you have probably fallen into at least a few of the many traps that await the unwary in this particular realm of electronic design. Well, Dave Young has been there, seen …read more
Continue reading The Cult of Really Low-Power Circuits: Scrounging, Sipping, and Seeing Power
ESP32 Makes Great MPPT Controller in Low-Cost Solar Installation
Solar power projects have become, in general, a matter of selecting components like panels and batteries, hooking them together with industry-standard connectors, and sitting back to watch the free electricity flow. As such, solar projects have become a bit boring, so it’s not often we see one that attracts our …read more
Continue reading ESP32 Makes Great MPPT Controller in Low-Cost Solar Installation