Mega plus board with ESP 32

@dastardlydoug I took all the cloud code out of my project. The reasons were that if/when the cloud goes down I have NO control of my device. The lag time is expected, but many/most of my message displays NEVER showed up. I may take a stab at hand rolling an internet solution later but only as a side app, the main existing app is ok the way it is but if I can send a msg to something and just walk away from it so it has no impact on the main app then I will do it but at the moment I don't know how to do that.

@dastardlydoug We all wish you the best Doug, but you have months of work ahead of you yet. By choosing hardware you are locking yourself into solutions that may not be optimal. Also I know your power situation needs work as well, but that is mostly just $ and some sweat equity, depending on your health no more than a few days work to install everything once all the parts are there. Let me know if you need links to fasteners, breakers, bus bars, wire etc. I assume you have a solar installer tool kit.

Posted by: @zander

@dastardlydoug We all wish you the best Doug, but you have months of work ahead of you yet. By choosing hardware you are locking yourself into solutions that may not be optimal. Also I know your power situation needs work as well, but that is mostly just $ and some sweat equity, depending on your health no more than a few days work to install everything once all the parts are there. Let me know if you need links to fasteners, breakers, bus bars, wire etc. I assume you have a solar installer tool kit.

Thanks Ron. I've got everything I need (fingers crossed) to get this done.

The solar panel is mounted 3 feet from the rear of the greenhouse on a pole.

All of the solar components are matched and made by RENOLOGY.

@dastardlydoug What solar controller, battery monitor and battery do you have? I don't recall hearing about them.

@dastardlydoug Here is the web site where you can calculate how much power that panel will produce. https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/pvwatts.php

Posted by: @zander

@dastardlydoug Here is the web site where you can calculate how much power that panel will produce. https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/pvwatts.php

@dastardlydoug So it looks like your worst case is around 5kWh/M = 5,000Wh/M = 167Wh/day which for planning purposes is 580ma at 12V around the clock. That may be alright as long as all your devices have duty cycles less than say 25% or less. That sounds pretty close to what you need, but lose the inverter as you don't have any AC loads that I recall and it will consume a lot of the little power you have. I would arrange to have a proper 'maintenance charger' on the battery, do NOT buy cheap trickle chargers, get a real maintenance charger for those days there is no sun. I don't know your location but the ROT is to plan for 3 days no sun. OR add a second panel in series. Do NOT go cheap on the wire, at least #10, I used #6 real welding type wire (many fine strands) a few pennies saved (amortized over the life of the system) is easily swamped by the daily cost of the lost power due to the extra resistance of low quality and/or too small wires. Use a wire calculator to determine the right size, aim for no more than 3% loss.

Wire Calculator

Posted by: @zander

@dastardlydoug So it looks like your worst case is around 5kWh/M = 5,000Wh/M = 167Wh/day which for planning purposes is 580ma at 12V around the clock. That may be alright as long as all your devices have duty cycles less than say 25% or less. That sounds pretty close to what you need, but lose the inverter as you don't have any AC loads that I recall and it will consume a lot of the little power you have. I would arrange to have a proper 'maintenance charger' on the battery, do NOT buy cheap trickle chargers, get a real maintenance charger for those days there is no sun. I don't know your location but the ROT is to plan for 3 days no sun. OR add a second panel in series. Do NOT go cheap on the wire, at least #10, I used #6 real welding type wire (many fine strands) a few pennies saved (amortized over the life of the system) is easily swamped by the daily cost of the lost power due to the extra resistance of low quality and/or too small wires. Use a wire calculator to determine the right size, aim for no more than 3% loss.

Wire Calculator

 

All the wires, battery and connectors came with my matched kit. 😎 

@dastardlydoug What about the battery?

@dastardlydoug

I won't be using an ESP32.

I decided to use the Arduino Nano33 IoT.

I'm just trying to get this done before I get the cancer removed from one of my lungs soon.

I do appreciate all of the suggestions and tips.

Thanks!

Sorry I must have got my wires crossed.

I went through a cancer operation 12 years ago and I must confess I spent the month before the operation going for long walks to try and get myself as fit as possible for the ordeal,  electronics was the last thing on my mind. Took me a year at least to recover. All the best and stay positive.

@dastardlydoug - Just for S&G, and to learn a bit about these capacitive soil moisture sensors, and maybe have some cross-over into my wife's hobbies, I've order this set to run parallel with you.  Should get here Wednesday.

"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BMVS366/"

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BMVS366/

Also, for another project with my public library Maker's Group...

"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCY2LXB/"

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCY2LXB/

@dastardlydoug Let's try a different approach. Can you produce a spreadsheet with each row being a piece of any power consuming equipment. The columns should be name, Volts, Amps, Watts.

Fan1 12V 400ma 4.8W

Pump1 12V 0.6A 7.2W

etc

Enter as integer volts (12 or 120) decimal amps 0.4 for 400ma and either integer watts or calculate them as VxA. Sum the watts, tell me if ANY 120V is needed and for what. OR just attach the spread sheet.

Posted by: @zander

@dastardlydoug Let's try a different approach. Can you produce a spreadsheet with each row being a piece of any power consuming equipment. The columns should be name, Volts, Amps, Watts.

Fan1 12V 400ma 4.8W

Pump1 12V 0.6A 7.2W

etc

Enter as integer volts (12 or 120) decimal amps 0.4 for 400ma and either integer watts or calculate them as VxA. Sum the watts, tell me if ANY 120V is needed and for what. OR just attach the spread sheet.

@zander

I'll try to make one today.

@dastardlydoug

Posted by: @dastardlydoug

Posted by: @zander

@dastardlydoug Let's try a different approach. Can you produce a spreadsheet with each row being a piece of any power consuming equipment. The columns should be name, Volts, Amps, Watts.

Fan1 12V 400ma 4.8W

Pump1 12V 0.6A 7.2W

etc

Enter as integer volts (12 or 120) decimal amps 0.4 for 400ma and either integer watts or calculate them as VxA. Sum the watts, tell me if ANY 120V is needed and for what. OR just attach the spread sheet.

@zander

I'll try to make one today.

There are many of these cool projects going on lately, and each have their own little variants of how they wish to operate (algorithmic(ally) speaking). A spreadsheet of requirements is a good start, but without knowing your full requirements, no one else will know what you want 😉

If you're using an esp8266 or esp32, then the C++ standard library offers a magnificent set of tools (container classes and language structures), to achieve your goals, none of which anyone ever really discuss here.

Good luck... looking forward to your project going forward.

Cheers

@zander

I decided I'll just run an extension cord for my circulation fans. Here are the 12v items I need to run on my solar setup.

Well, those and my Arduino 😊