I'm planning to build a PV system for my house electricity demand; but I can't use standard measurement for my design calculations; so I need to measure and record the sun radiation on my roof to get accurate data.
I intend to place several sensors all over the roof to measure the sunlight in different sections, but I did math and the signal from a regular photoresistor won't reach my arduino 5 meters away by wire.
Can anyone suggest a solution?
Maybe a signal amplifier? Model/name of the amplifier board?
I'm planning to build a PV system for my house electricity demand; but I can't use standard measurement for my design calculations; so I need to measure and record the sun radiation on my roof to get accurate data.
I intend to place several sensors all over the roof to measure the sunlight in different sections, but I did math and the signal from a regular photoresistor won't reach my arduino 5 meters away by wire.
Can anyone suggest a solution?
Maybe a signal amplifier? Model/name of the amplifier board?
Welcome to the Arduino forum! Seems like a simple problem, but perhaps not.
Measure the dark resistance of the photoresistor with your ohm meter. Then measure the resistance between the ends of the attached wires. What are the values? They should be very close to the same.
The best way to measure solar irradiance is to use a solar cell. Buy a little tiny one, like postage-stamp sized. Give it a reasonable resistor to absorb the power it produces and measure the voltage at the resistor.
What math? How long wire do you plan to use? A regular CdS LRD should have no problem with long wires - as long as the resistance in those wires isn't too much. The main problem would be picking up noise as those wires act like antennas.