SOLAR SWITCH
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This project started after a visit from my brother. We both had been playing with a few solar panels and using them to power projects and charge laptops, etc. The problem was that we didn't have good enough systems to power everything 24/7, our batteries would run out faster than they could keep charged. He wanted a device that would detect a low battery and switch the load onto the home AC supply. We couldn't find anything available that was cheap and meant for small systems like ours - so we decided to make one.
At first we wanted it to run on a simple 8-bit PIC, but we decided that using a more powerful, Arduino IDE compatible AVR (The ever popular ATMEGA328P) would turn this into a fun device for electronics enthusiasts to modify easily.
We were able to fit in a shield header compatible with Arduino style shields, adding limitless expansion opportunities like Wifi/Bluetooth/GSM notifications or SD card logging.
I designed, assembled, and programmed the PCBs for our project, while my brother worked to get a custom case created and sourced all of the physical connectors.
Currently, the project is almost complete. We have a working prototype and are tweaking variables in our code in order to monitor lead acid battery charging cycles.
The code and hardware files are currently on my github page.
At first we wanted it to run on a simple 8-bit PIC, but we decided that using a more powerful, Arduino IDE compatible AVR (The ever popular ATMEGA328P) would turn this into a fun device for electronics enthusiasts to modify easily.
We were able to fit in a shield header compatible with Arduino style shields, adding limitless expansion opportunities like Wifi/Bluetooth/GSM notifications or SD card logging.
I designed, assembled, and programmed the PCBs for our project, while my brother worked to get a custom case created and sourced all of the physical connectors.
Currently, the project is almost complete. We have a working prototype and are tweaking variables in our code in order to monitor lead acid battery charging cycles.
The code and hardware files are currently on my github page.
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