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121
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Using Arduino / General Electronics / Re: MPP Tracker
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on: October 29, 2012, 04:36:42 pm
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MPP trackers are essentially switch mode voltage converters, with intelligent software that juggles the load on the Solar panel to obtain the maximum output power. There are many common algorithms used for the load juggling, but basic idea is to measure the output power from the Solar panel and then change the load in some defined manner, and then see what happens to the output power. Its not that hard to do, but you do need a good understanding of how to design switch mode power supplies to keep their efficiency high. For very small Solar panels is not worth doing,as the output power increase is at best around 30%, and unless you can source all the parts for the tracker for next to nothing,its usually cheaper to just buy a 2nd solar panel.
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123
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Using Arduino / General Electronics / Re: RF Transmitter and Receiver WRL-10535 and WRL-10533
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on: October 22, 2012, 07:45:55 pm
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As above, and the other problem with trying to use a hardware usart with simple radio modules is that in the absence of any transmission , the receiver outputs continuous random data transitions which are not at any constant baud rate , and this will cause the usart at the receiving end to continuously generate overrun and framing errors, which must be cleared before it will work properly. To do what you want using radio needs intelligent Transmitters / receivers which will simulate correctly a hard wired connection. Look at using Xbee modules, some of which can do this.
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125
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Using Arduino / Project Guidance / Re: Measuring solar panel voltage
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on: October 17, 2012, 12:31:29 am
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What exactly are you trying to achieve with this measurement? A Solar Cell is a current source , and will produce 0.5 V per cell even with only a low light level. So a Solar panel , even in a relatively low light environment will produce close to its full voltage. The voltage wont change much , even though the light level may change a lot. To measure the change in light level, you need to put some kind of load on the Solar Panel and then measure the current.
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127
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Using Arduino / General Electronics / Re: neither send 0 nor 1 as digital
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on: October 11, 2012, 09:38:02 pm
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What type of Transmitter is being used? If its a simple ASK Transmitter , then leaving the data pin in a high impedance state can cause the transmitter to intermitantly transmit , as the voltage on the pin will float around. Much better to leave it with a 0 on the data pin.
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128
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Using Arduino / General Electronics / Re: My inductor isn't working
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on: October 10, 2012, 09:30:28 pm
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The Inductors used in boost converters need to have a maximum current rating without saturating of at least the maximum output current of the circuit X the ratio of the output volts/input volts. An inductor that small will be saturating, and ceasing to be an inductor. Needs to be a lot bigger.
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131
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Using Arduino / Sensors / Re: Using CST-1020
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on: October 07, 2012, 04:27:17 pm
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What sort of accuracy are you expecting with this energy meter? Current only sensing energy meters can be highly inaccurate as they dont measure the voltage. So with loads that have a power factor of less than 1 , the meter will read incorrectly. Loads that have switch mode power supplies in them , like computers or plug packs will read even more innacurately, due to the current waveform not being sinusoidal.
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133
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Using Arduino / Project Guidance / Re: wireless energy monitoring
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on: October 01, 2012, 03:31:01 am
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You cant measure voltage with a current clamp or a current sensor. This sort of project is not for a beginner. To accurately measue the energy consumption of an appliance you must measure the voltage and the current and the phase angle between them , as not all loads are purely resistive.
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135
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Using Arduino / Sensors / Re: Anyone has experience in hooking up Flexible Force Sensors to TX/RX433 kit?
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on: September 26, 2012, 08:25:25 pm
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You will need some intelligent processing to measure the output of each force sensor and to drive the 433 Mhz Transmitters. Maybe not an Arduino for each sensor, but some kind of microcontroller to read the sensor and to transmit the data. Those little 433 Mhz Transmitters are totally dumb, and cant be addressed in any way. You need some intelligence at both ends. Have a look at the Virtualwire library which is designed specifically for these Transmitter / Receivers.
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