This project is still in progress. Some fine tuning and I still need to put in in a sealed box and put it outside!
I wanted a robust weather station that I can feed sensor data into XGboost to get weather predictions. The machine learning I have not touched yet. But the sensors are all up and running! (minus the rain sensor because its unplugged for now).
I used the following parts:
Firebeetle ESP32-UE- MCU
Firebeetle ESP32-E terminal block (easy wiring)
DFROBOT RS485 to UART- used to wire the 3 RS485 devices
SEN0483- wind speed
SEN0482- wind direction
RG-9- rain sensor
SEN0290- lightning sensor (tested with a storm on 9/13 and detected from 18 miles away!)
SEN0562- ambient light
SEN0642- UV index
SEN0665- barometric pressure
SEN0385- temp and humidity
DFR0759-I2C hub
For solar. I am using the victron MPPT 75/10 with 12v solar and a 5s LTO battery. I wanted cold weather performance as it dips below 0F here in winter. LTO was the best choice. Victron allows customization for this. And with BLE support. I can get data like voltage, SOC and current draw to the ESP32 via BLE.
Show some pics of the circuit board and modules connected. Choose the encloure box very carefully as water will find its way in.
Important to know how setup will deal with low battery and if solar starts changing it again how esp32 will deal with that.
I sure will when I get home today. Was too excited to post my current progress.
The Victron MPPT manages solar and battery charging and load cutoff. The ESP32 device just reads it and makes changes to power consumption if needed. The MPPT will cut the load at 9v. Once solar input is detected. It will open the load terminal up and the ESP32 will boot back up. The MPPT will manage both power to the ESP32 and charging the battery.
I have not done a power consumption test though. So if a beefier battery is warranted. I’ll look at it. Right now its a 5S 12v LTO 20AH battery.
That is a big cell. My much smaller weather station runs on about 400mAH. Last year it turned off due to low battery for a few hours mid January. Is this a case of “nessun dorma”?
Overkill indeed. I’d imagine this will run for a week+ without solar input. I may step down the 20AH cells to 10AH cells. I had the 20AH cells from a different project so I am just reusing them.
No deep sleep the way some of the sensors work. Light sleep works. I am using a 25W 12V Solar panel. 16.45"L x 12.2"W. In my location. Winter months I’d get an average 1.5-2.5hs of sunlight. If my math is right, it should keep it topped off during the whole winter. And more than enough during spring-fall.
