ETEC 4301 Design Lab Jacob Ison Solar Energy and The Family Farm: The Mid-Semester Edition!

System Layout Solar Panel House Drinking Trough Storage Tank Water Source Pump Charge Control Battery Bank System Control Fill Valve

Ok, Where in the world am I at? ● A couple design changes. – New design for gravity fed water supply. – New method of charge controlling. ● Major Components have been tested and working except for the Solar Sensing Circuit. ● Just started the rough draft of the paper.

Arduino and Ethernet Shield ● Arduino Uno R3 with an Ethernet Shield. ● Computer can now connect to HTML status page. ● Major problem at first, but the connection of the Arduino must be bridged with an internet connection. ● HTML page refresh META tag now works as well.

Storage Tank Level Detection ● Using a Devantec SRF04 Ultrasonic Range Detector. ● Mounted to box and tested with the Arduino. ● Ready for final assembly.

Drinking Trough Level Detection ● Using a Float arm connected to a 5K potentiometer. ● The theory has been tested with the Arduino and worked, but it still needs to be adjusted and aligned.

Temperature Sensing and Battery Charge Level Detection ● Temperature Sensor is the LM335Z IC. – It converts change in temperature to voltage. – Tested and design finalized. ● Battery Charge Level Detect is a Voltage Divider. – Uses a 110K resistor in series with a 40K resistor. – Takes the 12V battery level and scales it to 5V.

Solar Output Sensing ● Solar Output Detection is the last piece to be designed. – Thoughts of using a current viewing resistor either connected directly to the Arduino or using an Op-Amp circuit.

Tank/Trough ● Two tubs are used in place of the two tanks. ● The tanks are connected together with a gravity fed hose into a float shut off valve.

Solar Panel ● Solar Panel has been tested in full sunlight at 22V, current has not been tested yet. ● This was the source of many problems at first. ● Solar Cells are EXTREMELY FRAGILE!!! – Handle with extreme care! ● Trying to assemble all the components of the panel and not break or crack the cells proved to be more of a challenge than it sounds.

Solar Panel ● Photos of the complete panel and stand.

TIME! ● I had planned to have all the sensors tested and most of the project assembled and have some of the paper already done. ● I am not quite that far, but very close. – I have already started the paper, although not very much of it is done yet. – All of the sensing systems have been at least prototyped except the Solar Output Status Indicator. – The pump also needs to be added. – My weekly blogs have tracked my progress from the presentation week.

TIME! Design/Order Parts Construction of Solar Panel Plumbing and Stands of the Tubs. Connect PC to the Arduino to test web functionality. Design, Develop and Program Sensor systems Connect Sensing Systems and Physical Systems Write Paper Give Presentation and DONE!! Finalize Project and Debug System