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

A white longtail cargo bike sits on grass with fenced-in planters behind it. The bike has a basket made of black metal tubes on the front and a passenger compartment behind the rider seat for children made of similar black metal tubes. A white canopy is above the passenger compartment and a solar panel sits atop the canopy.

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

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

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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

Soaring with the Sun: 4 Years of Solar RC Planes

Many of us have projects that end up spanning multiples years and multiple iterations, and gets revisited every time inspiration strikes and you’ve forgotten just how much work and frustration the previous round was. For [Daniel Riley] AKA [rctestflight] that project is a solar powered RC plane which to date …read more

Continue reading Soaring with the Sun: 4 Years of Solar RC Planes