Meshtastic Solar node build - part 1 of 2

[@marcomeli9882]

Finally, the channel we needed. Thanks! Please if you can, do a video about MQTT on Meshtastic, it will be very appreciated. Thanks again

[@chichimus]

Thanks. Very well explained. I am just getting into Meshtastic and have been thinking of a solar node eventually. Looking forward to part 2.

[@yannkitson116]

I've never seen that type of hand drill before, great video, thanks for sharing. 👍

[@dadsrcworkbench1322]

I use one of those for RC car bodies. It’s called a body reamer.

[@yannkitson116]

@@dadsrcworkbench1322 Great thanks for letting me know.

[@haltdeine_fresse7269]

I heard about meshtastic for the first time today and I'm really amazed at what's possible these days with very little effort. I was very bored with programming microcontrollers at school, but I didn't know you could do something like this with them. Greetings from Germany.

[@Abdullu]

is there any benefit of using the solar port instead of the USB port? From the diagram at 6:18 , it looks like the only difference is that the USB port serves both the "Wisblock core board" as well as the "charge chip", whereas the solar port only serves the "charge chip". Assuming the diagram is right, I have the impression that using the solar port introduces unnecessary conversion loss for providing energy to the "Wisblock core board" (solar port -> charge chip -> battery -> DC-DC -> Wisblock core board).

[@Bezstopy]

Thanks, I just ordered few boards to start in Meshtastic. I´ll be watching you closely. :)

[@seymourpro6097]

At the moment a RAK board will run for about a week off the same 18650 battery that will last 12 hours on an ESP32 board. In northern climes a smaller solar panel will support a RAK based node much longer than one using an ESP32 chip

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

Yes, much more power efficient (and no screen helps too)

[@HB9GUF]

Very nice. Where did you get the female USB-C receptacle that you soldered the solar power cable to?

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

amazon

[@StewartsRootBeer]

Great video! Would you be able to provide a link to the exact NRF52840 board you are using? A US-based distributor would be great! Thank you, and I appreciate the videos you guys have been posting on this channel.

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

Thanks. Here the link where I bought the RAKWireless board (it is their official store) : store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-starter-kit?m=5&h=new-starter-kit&variant=41786684965062 I'm not sure if they have a US-based distributor but you could ask them

[@StewartsRootBeer]

@@PoweredMeshtasticEurope Thanks!

[@alexandercarling5312]

Is there a list of all the things used? I would like to Copy Paste them in to my ordering basket :)

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

I would like to paste links in the description but youtube forbids it under 1000 subscribers...

[@user-yr7dd7ye2h]

@@PoweredMeshtasticEurope you are now over 1k subs :) can you update and post the list ?

[@JoergGebhard]

i think the 5-6W Panel is a total overkill. I use my rak with 1.5W Panel and it has not gone lower than 95% charge in month.

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

Great feedback. What capacity battery do you have with this node ?

[@JoergGebhard]

@@PoweredMeshtasticEurope 4x 18650 but these are used so ~10000mAh i used a parametric rugged case from printables as base and than added holes for the antenna, charging and a mount for solar panel. To access the USB-C Port you have to open the Case but the RAK can stay mounted. Sry, can't post a picture here. Also i used an additional tp4056 to charge the Battery from the Pannel as the RAK is known to be sensitive to overvoltage. The chip for charging in the RAK is also a TP40** and not a MPPT module. If you look at the schematics the 3.3V chip can only take 5.5V and this is the choking point (TP4056 could take more) I still want to test MPPT vs TP4056 to see the difference, but that will be for me heltec node where the 5W Panel is not enough.

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

@@JoergGebhard thanks for your experience. I will have to test the output voltage of the panel (should be 5V theoritically). If not, I'll use a TP4056 (have plenty laying around from a previous powerwall project) or a boost/buck converter.

[@frankfehlmann2083]

That may work if there is enough sunshine. In what region and latitude do you achieve this? In Switzerland there are lengthy winter periods without almost any sunshine at all (depending on the location).

[@JoergGebhard]

Austria, around Vienna, i planned measure currents from the panel and the Rak but this is an future project. location is Austria near Vienna ​@@frankfehlmann2083

[@betterl8thannvr]

LTO batteries would be a better choice if you live where it gets below freezing, or very hot.

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

That's what I've also heard elsewhere but without any real life experience.

[@betterl8thannvr]

@@PoweredMeshtasticEurope my experience with them is in a solar weather station. I've had it for a few years and have seen temperatures as low as about -12c where it was still charging. So far there has been no appreciable loss in battery life. There is a period every winter where I don't have enough sun to charge the battery, and this year I had to charge it twice, which is the same number of times as the last few winters. I don't have any longer term data unfortunately, and I don't have any good way to measure capacity as it is integrated into the unit.

[@naomi-g]

What is that hand drill?

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

I got it from hobbyking years ago. It is a "turnigy" hand tool. Not sure it is still for sale but similar tools must certainly exist

[@naomi-g]

@@PoweredMeshtasticEurope thank you!

[@dadsrcworkbench1322]

I use one for RC bodies. In the rc world it’s called a body reamer.

[@JodyAnderson-e2s]

mind sharing links to the parts?

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

You will find them in the description of part 2

[@mr_spoons]

Which solar panel exactly please?

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

It is the brand "Lemnoi" 6watts, on amazon.

[@mr_spoons]

@@PoweredMeshtasticEurope Thank you. 👍

[@dacian.vladimirescu]

what hardware for 433mhz ?

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

You mean about the antenna ?

[@dacian.vladimirescu]

@@PoweredMeshtasticEurope antenna + board . I need for 433 mhz

[@filipsworks]

The connection of solar panel doesn't seem wise. As it's USB it indicates the existence of some kind of voltage regulator circuit inside the solar panel itself so it would output 5V. Quite wasteful by itself and on top of that I'm sure that there are many cases in which solar panel is producing some usable power, but it's not enough to go through such converter -> and all of it ends up wasted.

[@PoweredMeshtasticEurope]

To answer to this question I will simply put it to the test and see the results.