We have a 4.88m x 2.74m x 1.22m (13m³) Bestway swimming pool in the backyard. We only use the pool when the pool water temperature is > 25°C, but it only happens if there are intensive sunshine and high ambient…
DIY swimming pool solar heater
Running on ‘dead’ batteries
I have a load of used AA/AAA batteries (0.9-1.2V), that I keep to run my LTC-3525 enabled projects like Funky v1 and v2; however the LTC-3525 will work down to 0.8V so the batteries are declared ‘dead’ for a second…
Trying out Funky v2 with the LTC3108 energy harvesting board
I have recently added a MOSFET to Funky v2 so it can control the power state of the RFM12B module. This was done in an attempt to allow starting up from a gradually rising power source, like the LTC3108 energy…
Funky v2 rev 1
I haven’t been able to use my miniature nodes the Funky v1 or Funky v2 with my energy harvesting board yet, in the means of plug-and-forget type of solution. Basically the issue is that we have a slowly rising voltage from…
Video of the LTC3108 energy harvesting board with solar cell
I made a short video of the LTC3108 energy harvesting board with a solar cell. The test is done indoors, it was completely dark outside. Light source is a single 23W CFL bulb, around meter away. The breakout board has…
Energy harvesting breakout board
I have put up a small LTC3108 breakout board based on Robert’s design that I also tested out. A re-cap for those that didn’t follow my energy harvesting posts: The LTC3108 is a highly integrated DC/DC converter ideal for harvesting and managing…
Using the LTC3108 breakout board with a TEG
As I mentioned already, I burned my old Peltier element before receiving the LTC3108 breakout PCB, so I couldn’t test that setup. So I went and hooked a solar cell, but the configuration I have on the PCB is not optimal…
Using the LTC3108 breakout board with a solar cell
EDIT: I used the wrong solar cell in this experiment, using a single solar cell 0.5V the supercap charges fully for less than 45 min I wired my LTC3108 breakout board this morning to a 120x80mm solar cell, shamelessly scavenged…
Energy harvesting
I have mentioned before my interest in energy harvesting, and have decided to try Robert’s LTC3108 breakout board. The Funky sensor is all about low power, so it is an ideal candidate for battery-less low power node. I got the…