Solar powered web server

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aros71

122 posts

Master Geek
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#153821 8-Oct-2014 22:33

My project from today:

http://nzrosner.dlinkddns.com/Solar/index.html

Solar power installation for a personal website running on a Raspberry Pi.

Why? Just because....

Adam Rosner

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#1150322 8-Oct-2014 22:42

Looks awesome, looking forward to some updates as it progresses!

Oncop53

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#1150333 8-Oct-2014 23:41

Looks great! have you seen this: http://blog.cloudflare.com/dyi-web-server-raspberry-pi-cloudflare/ ?
With cloudflare you could handle larger traffic loads (if that becomes an issue).

aros71

122 posts

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#1150335 8-Oct-2014 23:56

Oncop53:With cloudflare you could handle larger traffic loads (if that becomes an issue).

Not a bad idea, though typically this site only gets one or two actual visits from human beings a month, the rest is just bots, according to the logfile analyzer (awstats) that I run on it.

I've published the solar page tonight and publicised it here and on social media, so tonight the site's going to get probably more traffic in 24 hours than it would normally get in a year.

But yeah - Cloudflare looks like a good idea, and I'll keep it in mind if my traffic starts picking up

Adam Rosner

k1wi

484 posts

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#1150358 9-Oct-2014 03:28

Nice project. A solar pi project has been on my wish list for a good year now.

Any reasons why you chose a Model B over a Model A or B+? Both alternatives have lower power consumption.
I don't see any battery level monitoring & logging. It would be a great addition to your project.

davidcole

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#1150388 9-Oct-2014 07:30

Hi...I had thoughts a couple of years ago of solar powering a wireless webcam - but was not electrical enough to know how to implement it. I've love to see some of the part numbers along with your post.

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SumnerBoy

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#1150392 9-Oct-2014 07:58

Very cool mate - well done. Those RPis are awesome little toys/tools! Will be very interested to see how it handles a few cold dark winter days in a row. Looking forward to progress reports ;).

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linw

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#1150430 9-Oct-2014 09:02

Interesting project.

aros71

122 posts

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#1150435 9-Oct-2014 09:10

SumnerBoy: Very cool mate - well done. Those RPis are awesome little toys/tools! Will be very interested to see how it handles a few cold dark winter days in a row. Looking forward to progress reports ;).

Hmm - yeah I think I may need to increase the battery capacity for winter. As at 8am this morning, battery was on 12.00 volts under load (running the site). Sun's just starting to hit the panel now.

The battery didn't start full yesterday, it was just off the shelf, and it didn't get connected until around 3pm. So let's see what a day's charge can do for it.

Adam Rosner

aros71

122 posts

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#1150836 9-Oct-2014 17:04

k1wi: Nice project. A solar pi project has been on my wish list for a good year now.

Any reasons why you chose a Model B over a Model A or B+? Both alternatives have lower power consumption.
I don't see any battery level monitoring & logging. It would be a great addition to your project.

I used the model Pi that I had sitting in the drawer, since I already had it.

Monitoring and logging: Have already been looking into voltage data loggers - something like http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=HHDLCR1003&print=true or else http://www.mrpositive.co.nz/celllog-8s-lipo-alarm-meter-data-logger/

For now I've just got a voltmeter sitting across the 12V battery... I've updated the page to reflect the first day's results http://nzrosner.dlinkddns.com/Solar/index.html

Adam Rosner

aros71

122 posts

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#1150837 9-Oct-2014 17:05

davidcole: I've love to see some of the part numbers along with your post.

Check out the post, I've added them http://nzrosner.dlinkddns.com/Solar/index.html

Adam Rosner

SumnerBoy

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#1150838 9-Oct-2014 17:06

Brilliant - those Pis are pretty efficient obviously!

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KennyM

221 posts

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#1158831 20-Oct-2014 21:07

I Like it!

I have a slightly larger version that does a couple of other things than yours. But as mentioned above measuring the voltage is always handy.

This is the sensor that I use for measuring the voltage on my system. Works a treat.
https://nicegear.co.nz/sensors/ina219-high-side-dc-current-sensor-breakout/

My script read it and then uploads it to https://xively.com/ which is free (For personal use I think)

Im not a coder or anything, or that good with linux, so that graphs all my data with time stamps and with different viewing options (ie past 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days etc)

Have fun!
My system isnt finished, one day when I get around completing everything ill share.

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#1158837 20-Oct-2014 21:18

So, is rosner.net.nz running from the solar powered Pi?

aros71

122 posts

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#1158839 20-Oct-2014 21:24

ubergeeknz: So, is rosner.net.nz running from the solar powered Pi?

Yes-ish. All the content you see if you browse to rosner.net.nz is hosted on the R.Pi, but the domain itself is on iServe. I've got 10MB of space only so not enough for any content apart from some redirect pages pointing to the dynDNS url of the Pi.

This somewhat convoluted approach is because of two reasons:

You can't get a fixed IP on an unlimited UFB connection, and I daren't drop to the 80GB plan with YouTube-hungry teenagers in the house!
You can't share dynDNS URLs on social media, they're blocked.

So the mickey-mouse solution it is, for now. (-:

Adam Rosner

JoshWright

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#1158843 20-Oct-2014 21:34

Well done! Looks good, I love a good RPI project. Only thing I'd be wary of is the quality of the DC output coming from that cheapo car charger... I'm can't remember why, but I think it's something to do with cheap components that can supply inconsistent voltages/amps.

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