How to make any micocontroller run forever using solar energy?
-
Hello I am working on a project using nodemcu.
In my home for years every day, someone has to walk up to the terrace of the house to check the water level and then turn the motor on/off.
I am planning to read the water levels in the tank using an ultrasonic sensor and push data into the cloud so that we don't need to go to the terrace to check the water level.
I would like my nodemcu module to run infinitely all the time using solar power. I have an old solar panel at home which is left unused and was used to charge a solar lamp. What other things do I need to implement this project? what battery should I use?
How do I implement this project?
-
@milanvarghese Basically you have cited the solution to your question. yes, you can run the Arduino microcontroller from a solar panel with some protection circuitry in between. There are many tutorials and blogs out there. You can start with something as following.
-
@kowshik1729 I have seen this, but doesnt it damage that battery? dischargeing and charging at the same time?
-
@milanvarghese No, the battery comes into the play only if there is no power from the solar cell. It's like inverters in our home. They activate only if main power is gone, rest of the time they keep charging. similarly here the direct power will be coming from the solar cell, only if the solar cell can't produce enough voltage battery comes into the loop and starts providing voltage to our circuit.
Recent Posts
-
@zainmuhammed Can try capturing the GPS when the device is starting the loop instead after joining the LoRaWAN and see?
You can put the GPS value on top of the loop or setup function.
Also, what kind of gateway are you using? Is it configured okay, OTA is done?
-
@salmanfaris Today I tried after connecting a 18650 cell,
Data getting in console after integration of both lora and gps.
here you can see that GPS value is 0,0. also in my previous post you can see that GPS value is not reading.
Also the status LED is active after it is connected to the satellite. -
Hi @zainmuhammed ,
Can you share the GPS and LoRa output when it’s working?
Also can try capturing the GPS when the device is starting the loop instead after joining the LoRaWAN and see?
Also make sure the device provides have enough to modules. The GPS need more power when you cold start.
-
@zainmuhammed
#include <Arduino.h> #include <U8x8lib.h> #include <TinyGPS++.h> #include <SoftwareSerial.h> static const int RXPin = 1, TXPin = 2; static const uint32_t GPSBaud = 9600; // The TinyGPS++ object TinyGPSPlus gps; // The serial connection to the GPS device SoftwareSerial ss(RXPin, TXPin); U8X8_SSD1306_128X64_NONAME_HW_I2C u8x8(/*reset=*/U8X8_PIN_NONE); // U8X8_SSD1306_128X64_NONAME_SW_I2C u8x8(/*clock=*/ SCL, /*data=*/ SDA, /*reset=*/ U8X8_PIN_NONE); // OLEDs without Reset of the Display static char recv_buf[512]; static bool is_exist = false; static bool is_join = false; static int led = 0; static int at_send_check_response(char *p_ack, int timeout_ms, char *p_cmd, ...) { int ch; int num = 0; int index = 0; int startMillis = 0; va_list args; char cmd_buffer[256]; // Adjust the buffer size as needed memset(recv_buf, 0, sizeof(recv_buf)); va_start(args, p_cmd); vsprintf(cmd_buffer, p_cmd, args); // Format the command string Serial1.print(cmd_buffer); Serial.print(cmd_buffer); va_end(args); delay(200); startMillis = millis(); if (p_ack == NULL) { return 0; } do { while (Serial1.available() > 0) { ch = Serial1.read(); recv_buf[index++] = ch; Serial.print((char)ch); delay(2); } if (strstr(recv_buf, p_ack) != NULL) { return 1; } } while (millis() - startMillis < timeout_ms); return 0; } static void recv_prase(char *p_msg) { if (p_msg == NULL) { return; } char *p_start = NULL; int data = 0; int rssi = 0; int snr = 0; p_start = strstr(p_msg, "RX"); if (p_start && (1 == sscanf(p_start, "RX: \"%d\"\r\n", &data))) { Serial.println(data); u8x8.setCursor(2, 4); u8x8.print("led :"); led = !!data; u8x8.print(led); if (led) { digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); } else { digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); } } p_start = strstr(p_msg, "RSSI"); if (p_start && (1 == sscanf(p_start, "RSSI %d,", &rssi))) { u8x8.setCursor(0, 6); u8x8.print(" "); u8x8.setCursor(2, 6); u8x8.print("rssi:"); u8x8.print(rssi); } p_start = strstr(p_msg, "SNR"); if (p_start && (1 == sscanf(p_start, "SNR %d", &snr))) { u8x8.setCursor(0, 7); u8x8.print(" "); u8x8.setCursor(2, 7); u8x8.print("snr :"); u8x8.print(snr); } } void setup(void) { u8x8.begin(); u8x8.setFlipMode(1); u8x8.setFont(u8x8_font_chroma48medium8_r); ss.begin(GPSBaud); Serial.begin(GPSBaud); pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); Serial1.begin(9600); Serial.print("E5 LORAWAN TEST\r\n"); u8x8.setCursor(0, 0); if (at_send_check_response("+AT: OK", 100, "AT\r\n")) { is_exist = true; at_send_check_response("+ID: DevEui", 1000, "AT+ID=DevEui,\"xxxxx\"\r\n"); // replace 'xxxxxxxxxxxxx' with your DevEui at_send_check_response("+ID: AppEui", 1000, "AT+ID=AppEui,\"xxxxxxx\"\r\n"); // replace 'xxxxxxxxxxxxx' with your AppEui at_send_check_response("+KEY: APPKEY", 1000, "AT+KEY=APPKEY,\"xxxxxxxxx\"\r\n"); // replace 'xxxxxxxxxxxxx' with your AppKey at_send_check_response("+ID: DevAddr", 1000, "AT+ID=DevAddr\r\n"); at_send_check_response("+ID: AppEui", 1000, "AT+ID\r\n"); at_send_check_response("+MODE: LWOTAA", 1000, "AT+MODE=LWOTAA\r\n"); at_send_check_response("+DR: IN865", 1000, "AT+DR=IN865\r\n"); // Change FREQ as per your location at_send_check_response("+CH: NUM", 1000, "AT+CH=NUM,0-2\r\n"); at_send_check_response("+CLASS: C", 1000, "AT+CLASS=A\r\n"); at_send_check_response("+PORT: 8", 1000, "AT+PORT=8\r\n"); delay(200); u8x8.setCursor(5, 0); u8x8.print("LoRaWAN"); is_join = true; } else { is_exist = false; Serial.print("No E5 module found.\r\n"); u8x8.setCursor(0, 1); u8x8.print("unfound E5 !"); } u8x8.setCursor(2, 4); u8x8.print("led :"); u8x8.print(led); } void loop(void) { if (is_exist) { int ret = 0; if (is_join) { ret = at_send_check_response("+JOIN: Network joined", 12000, "AT+JOIN\r\n"); if (ret) { is_join = false; } else { at_send_check_response("+ID: AppEui", 1000, "AT+ID\r\n"); Serial.print("JOIN failed!\r\n\r\n"); delay(5000); } } else { gps.encode(ss.read()); float a=gps.location.lat(); float b=gps.location.lng(); Serial.println(a); Serial.println(b); char cmd[128]; sprintf(cmd, "AT+CMSGHEX=\"%04X%04X\"\r\n", (float)a,(float)b); ret = at_send_check_response("Done", 5000, cmd); if (ret) { recv_prase(recv_buf); } else { Serial.print("Send failed!\r\n\r\n"); } delay(5000); } } else { delay(1000); } }
this is the code