Help & FAQ
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| Please press F5 to refresh the live cameras and the data! |
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Live-Project LED
Beneath each of our live projects you will find an LED marked “Live”. It displays the current status of that particular measuring device. The Solar-PC and all cameras also have such status LEDs. Our Live-Server monitors all of the devices and automatically adjusts the LED-status to reflect the current situation.
The LED can flash in four different colors, signifying the following status:
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| | Device operating normally |
| | Current state unknown |
| | An error or failure has been detected and the device is being repaired. |
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When the LED flashes blue, the measuring device is up and running, but there isn’t an editor near that could take action in case a problem occurs, for example on weekends and holidays.
| | Device operating normally, but won’t be repaired if an error occurs |
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| F A Q |
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Question: Why does the battery charge display suddenly jump to 0?
Answer: Determining the battery charge level is difficult. The voltage differs greaty between charging and discharging, making exact measurements impossbile. If the voltage is so low that the charge regulator shuts off the flow of power to the PC, the battery charge display is set to 0. In reality, the battery will still hold a minimal charge even at this point.
Question: Why is the global radiation displayed on the weather page?
Answer: The global radiation specifies the amount of radiation energy. Solar-panel companies figure in 1000 W/m²: This is the amount of radiation energy at which the solar panel reaches its nominal output.
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| A tour of our the entire system | |
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Solar-PC-Anlage Indoor
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Solar-PC-Anlage Outdoor
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At the moment, you just aren't getting enough solar power through the day to run the PC AND charge the battery to a level that will take you through till the sun is up again.
Would it have been a better idea to give the battery one full (mains) charge prior to running the live test? Especially since you mentioned yourselves about the lack of sun in September as opposed to July/August... you could have had a fighting chance of 24Hr operation.
It would still have been running on solar power, but you wouldn't have had the instant 1500KWh deficit to make up.
"Hours of Operation" appears to be showing the information from "Total Uptime Today" rather than the time of the day the system was up.
does look like the batt needs charging before use but charge controller is not ment to handle that much power (thay need the pc on so it does not make the charge controller cut out)
or it needs 1 more solar pannel or batt or both so the batts can charge up and hold an charge for longer or charge up faster
may not be an good idea as well running the batts flat but not sure on that one
but as the test is going on does look like it is staying on for an little longer per day
there is No forum link any one post one (or i will soon as i find it)
realy dislike this site now
why no link not even any chatter on fourms about this
i get 1 result from fourm search for Solar but says page can not be found
is it that if we are not on an USA host we cant see all of the fourms?
I haven't read the full article (only the first part) but surely you need excess solar capacity in overcast conditions to allow 24/7 operation and a full battery?? That's my criteria for off-grid operation!!
Bob Wya
maybe this setup should of been used for Norm use Not 24/7 use as i not use my computer for 24hr an day
shut it down at end of work hrs or home times and then turn it back on
For hard-core Bit-torrent users 24/7 operation is essential...
Also what about those late night gaming sessions you indulge in... Be honest now :-) Not much sun then is there? Hence the system would need more battery ommphh (i.e. Amp/h). (Well actually it would also need a graphics card as well :-)
If I wanted to edit documents on Solar I would just use a laptop... Sorry but either you can run a real Desktop (dual-core/quad-core CPU + Raptors/SCSI HD Striped + X1950+/7900+) or just use a laptop (which will surely save power) with the advantage it will run directly off the Solar-charged batteries.
Don't get me wrong I love the idea of Solar but it would be nice to see the full deal (a proper system and just how much outlay in terms of Solar panel area/hard cash & environmental impact of the panel manufacturer - whole life cycle estimate)...
Bob Wya
Guys, a huge part of the panel is in the shadow from some building for now(10:36)! And even more was earlier in morning. You're losing a lot of power just because wrong panel position.
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Like I have been saying this project is a bit micky mouse... Given that Solar Panels have been kicking around for a while now in an affordable Amorphous form (i.e. not just crystaline form used by NASA!!)...
People will read the article and think thats fine but... 'I use my system 24/7' or 'I want to use my system at night' or 'I have 2x 8800 Ultras SLI and never mind my quad core 3.7Ghz CPU - using slightly more than 300Watts!!'
OK a more interesting article might take a real system. Then hook up a few batteries and panels and cost up how much it would **really** cost to go off-grid. Proper storage of electricity can make or break such a system... Is there an alternative to Lead-Acid batteries on the horizon? Fuel-cell or Li-Ion technology for example (thinking of both cost and capacity)...
The problem with the article it is very much for the 'Solar Geek' and doesn't demonstrate a viable alternative to a Nuclear/Fossil- fueled national grid.
The shadowing of the panels is probably not such a big deal. Sure you will lose lots of power but hell in the real world stuff like that is going to happen - be it shadowing from trees, other buildings, etc.
Bob Wya
So, did Autumn pull the plug in the end?
I think it's a nice idea though not a practical alternative for most people at this point in time (and maybe never, actually (and unfortunately)).