Everything you need to know about solar Meshtastic nodes | Heltec T114 Solar tests.

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The Heltec T114 is a development board with a built in LoRa radio and a low power consumption nRF52 series MPU, this makes it ideal for use as a Meshtastic node, it also has a dedicated solar panel input! Let's test it out and see how well it works and if this device could be used as a remote solar Meshtastic node!
Heltec T114 Mesh Node
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MPPT Charge controller module
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Zero Fox 3D ( Bender case for Heltec T114 coming soon!!!)
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SEEED Studio SENSECAP T1000E Tracker:
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Good quality SMA pigtail
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Meshtastic Store
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JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON MY DISCORD!
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Опубликовано:

27 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 41

@andrewtitcombe8378 29 дней назад

Built my own mesh infrastructure from Heltec lora v2's . 6v 90mw solar. I found the trick was to write in the code to check voltage and go into deep sleep for 8hrs and wake and test again if volts below 3.6v This prevents the devices crashing while in awake state, rather than low in low power state. If the battery drops below 3.6v then it is harder for the charge controller to keep the solar panel at it's maximum power point. And in dull days will struggle to recover from.

@Mike-H_UK 29 дней назад

Great video. It wasn't too long, and it was interesting to see you work things out as you went along.

@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE Месяц назад

I prefer to learn as you learn rather than a polished "everything pre sorted" video. Thanks Andy, I appreciate your hard work on RU-vid.

@martijnspeklap8713 Месяц назад

Great video Andy! Thanks from the Dutch Meshtastic community!

@AlreadyThere1965 Месяц назад

Excellent help on resolving the restart issue. I want to put a node on a tower. This should eliminate the need to climb and reset the device. We have extensive periods of little sun in the winter here and the likelihood of a battery going dead is a real issue.

@ahaveland Месяц назад

Hysteresis is a good word... disconnect at 2.5, reconnect at 2.8, then you have enough juice at 2.8V to sag a little under load without disconnecting again... btw, I think the little mppt board you linked to on Amazon is different from the one you used.

@andykirby Месяц назад

Hi mate, yes indeed👍🏻 the board should be correct, just checked it.

@TNTSecurite 21 день назад

@@andykirby You can connect your solar panel and batteries but you can't connect to your Heltec or Rak

@johnpeters6147 29 дней назад

Their schematic shows it has a LGS4056H charge controller, the datasheet shows at 3.57V the current should have been >1A (but obviously limited by what the panel can provide). I'm sure the diode on the board going from the solar panel to the charging IC isn't doing it any favors, but I think based on the charging cycle it was still in 0.05A charging stage. There are 5 stages for that charge controller and it depends on the battery voltage where it ends up, but the first charging stage is 0.05A then 0.1A. On the power supply it looks like the internal charger was able to go to a high current, so I would say maybe the Heltec T114 internal charger isn't as bad as seen in the video?

@over-engineered Месяц назад

when charging the battery and running the Heltec from solar, don’t forget around 15mA from the panel was also going into the Heltec, so the total solar panel output was say 15mA higher than the meter read

@andykirby Месяц назад

Yes that is true 😁👍🏻

@bikeham Месяц назад

I received my T114 (without screen) yesterday and have noticed that the default password does not work, so you may have to use Serial Console and there is no support for OTA firmware updates as yet. My RAK node that has a 1 watt solar panel and 3000mAh battery, struggled to maintain the battery voltage here during Australia's winter (Melbourne).

@Robotron-zg6mf Месяц назад

I use 3 of them solar panels in parallel on a Rak, it works 24/7 since spring time, but now winter is coming we will have long nights? great experiment especially for covert hill top nodes

@Tore_Lund 29 дней назад

I run a RAK off a 10W 12V standard solar panel, but I use a 5.5-20V to 5V buck converter before the solar input on the RAK, the kind used for solar USB chargers from China. The buck converter is rated for 2A, but runs in the 80%+ efficiency range with the low requirements from the RAK. The point of this, is to get some charging on cloudy winter days, as it gives some, the moment the 12V panel reaches a voltage of 5.5V. Will see if it works as well as I hope in winter.

@svgabrielle3790 28 дней назад

No microprocessor likes supply voltage ramp-up from zero ... cannot guarantee a clean reset and if it does reset running, voltage may be below that required for reliable operation.👍

@alw7315 28 дней назад

RAKS vs Heltec T114 would make an interesting video, solar wise

@jamess1787 Месяц назад

Thank you @andy!

@daveminskip5541 29 дней назад

Wish a sorted Solar set up was available for sale for Meshtastic.

@Meitao23 Месяц назад

That seems like the exact same thing that happens with Rak. You gotta a test running the solar right into the USB port.

@Doubleelforbes Месяц назад

I reckon if you interrupt it mid-boot, the contents of RAM will be b0rked. Then even with a flat-batt, it *may* have enough voltage to keep the RAM contents in place. This is why after 2nd boot it doesn't even show the splash ....... I think. I also think the batt protection fix is basically zeroing out the voltages and clearing RAM upon reconnect of "mains" ? What I'm thinking here is you can prove / disprove this by letting it "crash", restore power, observe no reboot, soft reset. If this works, you can monitor the voltage going into Green LED and if it's low for > certain time, you can spam the soft reset with 5v. Then again, what does a battery protection module cost ya?

@hanfo420 25 дней назад

They use the lgs4056h which has absolutely no battery protection. Not even one person thought about battery protection from design to finished product. 😂

@BrummBilt Месяц назад

Does the Heltec have a diode for the solar panel to prevent reverse bias?

@HarukiToreda Месяц назад

yes

@SylvainDeWeerdt 23 дня назад

J'ai commandé le miens. Peut être que un BMS S1 sauverait la batterie ?

@armisis Месяц назад

I got a batch of batteries now with connectors that are too big for my heltec haha

@rawcado Месяц назад

Which Rak are you talking about, does it make a difference? Here in L.A. about half the people in the list are using the Rak 4631, they seem to be really popular and the most used here.

@valzzu 29 дней назад

i think tge solar charge controller is just using tp4056 like the rak is

@ChristieNel Месяц назад

I seriously doubt that tiny panel will power a node through the deep winter. Also, Lithium batteries don't survive freezing temperatures. I have a much bigger solar panel in my setup and would like to add a heating system that keeps it warm through freezing temperatures.

@slayer324 Месяц назад

Move to the south lol, US,

@RabbitHoleAdventures 29 дней назад

Check out the LTO solar battery kit from Voltaic Enclosures.

@ChristieNel 29 дней назад

@@RabbitHoleAdventures I've located them. Really neat kit. Similar, but more efficient version of my setup.

@RabbitHoleAdventures 29 дней назад

@ChristieNel I have one being delivered any minute now. I'm curious to see how well it'll work throughout the hot summers and frigid winters.

@ChristieNel 29 дней назад

@@RabbitHoleAdventures Yes, me too. I'm just wondering about their battery capacity. With my setup it's easy to attach really huge batteries.

@irreverend_ Месяц назад

Have you had any issues with it not sending long messages? I have two of these without the screen, and messages over 63 characters rarely send successfully. Not sure if I've got a couple of duds, or if it's a firmware issue.