68k Macintosh Liberation Army Forums

68k Macintosh Liberation Army Forums

Home | Members | Search | FAQ

All Forums

Lounge

Solar Powered Quadras

Author	Topic
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 19 Sep 2002 : 22:04:57 So I'm sitting around just thinking to myself as I do, and note that the uptime on the Q605 has just hit 14:57:24 up 21 days, 18:09, 3 users, load average: 0.02, 0.07, 0.08 . It'd be a little higher, if we didn't have blackouts here - they don't come along too often, perhaps every few months or so, and then they may only be a few seconds long, but I'm entering summer now - they're going to get a bit more frequent. I also have too much time on my hands, so I've started peeking around at Solar Power options for the lil boxie. Honestly, a UPS would do just fine to keep the server up, but thats not quite do-it-yourself enough :). I've seen online some larger solar arrays with 26 cells that can put out 150w or more - thats insanely high when it comes to running a 605! I doubt the beastie uses more than 25w, so there are quite a few options when it comes to power. One of the western australian sites I read had their lowest spec battery able to run 340 Amp-hours. I figure at around 25w, that'd be 12v @ 2A = 170 hours constant running... with my VERY vague electrical maths grin. Easily enough to last overnight without deep draining the battery. It's a thought, and has given me something to read about online :D dana Quadra 605 Obsessions
AnubisTTP Junior Member USA 308 Posts	Posted - 20 Sep 2002 : 05:02:36 I have seen companys that sell solar cells that hook into a cars cigarette lighter and top off the charge in the battery. Getting one of those and a car battery would probably be an easy solution. AnubisTTP, Tank Commander, Bolo Division 68k Macintosh Liberation Army Macs Liberated:22
candyPunk Full Member USA 856 Posts	Posted - 20 Sep 2002 : 09:30:39 What an awesome idea. Depending on your success and cost, I might consider something like that to power one of my 68k's for use as a server or, if the damn things will do what I want them to, a localtalk bridge. I doubt I'll every actually use any solar power for anything, but I'd love to see you do it! Too bad I don't know the first thing about electricity. I'll just listen for now... { candyPunk } { Captain of Observation, 68k MLA } { 68k Macs liberated: 3} { My baby: Q660av }
Da Penguin Senior Member USA 1094 Posts	Posted - 20 Sep 2002 : 13:19:06 That sounds just plain freaking kool maniac! I can wire anything and everything and know the basics, but "conversions" and such are crazy to me. I think im gonna stay with candyPunk on this and just watch. But if it makes you feel any better, I have faith and would LOVE to see it happen. ~The Penguin \| Captain, Intelligence Operations / Space Cowboy \| There is only one path and that is the path that you take, but you can take more than one path. \| 68k.torpedobird.com <-- Official Hotline Server \|
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 20 Sep 2002 : 17:47:49 hmm! what a wonderful idea! in fact, i think that this would be an ideal setup for a server in a sunny area, i'd think that a lower powered mac (the 6100 uses 86watts, and i can't find the wattage of the IIsi, the quadra clocks in at a breathtaking 200 watts!) i can imagine that something like one of the PowerBook models or a lower powered 040 (the 605 for example) should make a great full time server in a setup like this... living in washington, though, i don't get all that much sun :( we might move to arizona sooner than not though, and once i'm there, i want to start a solar panel farm! right atop the house for sunlight all the tme, and LOTS of batteries, the more, the better, and i'll need a computer with a low-watt PSU... maybe the PB100 with 7.1 and M$ PWS or that freeHTTP or whatever it be called, maybe a powerbook or 7 would be the first completely slar powered cluster computing solution, compact, AND cheap!! Official 68k videographer
Trash80toG-4 NIGHT STALKER USA 2899 Posts	Posted - 20 Sep 2002 : 18:36:42 Solar is sexy, but wind and water turbines are far more cost effective and moving parts have their own special appeal! jt ™. Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 20 Sep 2002 : 23:11:08 So it all looks pretty decent so far :D. I had -no- idea what it'd cost when I first thought, but it seems around $800australian would get things going, at a vague/rough guess. mebbe more, mebbe less. I've found quite a few solar panel peeps online, some close-by too. One has a book made for householders who wish to run their home or part of it, on solar-generated electricity. That's just the thing I need :). Hydro is kinda unlikely here as I'm miles from the closest river, and even then that goes up and down all over the place - and I'm not putting a dam upstream of the town - the local council already denied me that request a couple of years ago... ...and wind is a bit sporadic here. Spring is brilliant, but midsummer days barely work up a breeze for weeks at a time. If I lived 50kms further west I'd be in one of the prime spots for wind in the state! heh. but sun... we have sun sun sun sun all over the place. Winter might get a bit dodgy, but with around 7-8 hours sunshine per day even then, a heliostatic setup should work spot-on :D dana (off to read some more) Quadra 605 Obsessions Edited by - danamania on 20 Sep 2002 23:12:15
shaktiman Senior Member United Kingdom 1226 Posts	Posted - 21 Sep 2002 : 15:02:18 I want solar power, can I have links, shaktiman Quadra 840av, 128MB ram, 2MB vram, cd drive(caddy),1 caddy!:-) 1.2 gig drive, 4.23 gig drive 3 monitors 15" & 14" & 14" os 8.1 56k modem, Stylewriter 1200, Umax 1220s scanner
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 21 Sep 2002 : 16:57:30 http://www.bpsolar.com/ has some general info http://www.tasmanenergy.com.au/ has lotsa stuff for home solar peeps and a wind generator for trash! dana Quadra 605 Obsessions
Marchie Chaplain USA 911 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 12:58:43 What about making your own UPS? 2 Motorcycle batteries, one Power Inverter... a solar input... There are multiple places online talking about how to make a UPS, or better yet, find one someon is throwing away... odds are it just needs new batteries. Many use gel packs, but you can use motorcycle or car batteries. ~Marchie ~Chaplain Marchie Admin of The WonderLAN ~~"We are all Mad here"~~
Trash80toG-4 NIGHT STALKER USA 2899 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 13:24:51 Guinea Pigs and a bigger exercise wheel/belt driven generator? Squirrels are a little passe and too low an output level anyway! jt ™. Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 14:44:06 OOH! HEY! i know that it's not a quadra, but i'm considering using my IIsi as a solar powered web server, or the base of a system that will eventually be a solar powered server first, for $5 i'll be getting a old UPS, one that has a HUGE case and it'll be the center of the operation, (needs new batteries) then, i'll replace the batteries and begin saving for the $900 solar panel that I'll need in order to charge the batteries solarifficly. third, i live in washington, a very rainy place, and at that, my room is under a few trees which are around our house, but we'll be moving to arizona or somewhere southwest (hopefully CA) but when i live in CA, i may as well begin using the "siSERVE" only under solar power... that is i'll try it at least. fourth, i'll be on the constant lookout for something that is different than the IIsi, but can provide more power, in less watts, a PowerPC notebook would be ideal... maybe the PBg4 that i'll be getting shall be powered by solar... at any rate, i know what'll be happening to that van of mine, no garage parking EVER!! would it not be cool to have a computer, acting as a server to the internet inside your car on all the time... i would probably not use a car though... putting solar panels in the big water retention areas that have the most sun in front of my room would be good for now but i think that i know how to make it work, to where solar is a backup thing, if you hook up the batteries for charging from solar inside, and still plug the UPS in, it'll be better for wre you have a server, and the sun, but blackout occur sometimes (like dana's current situation) THIS is going to be my 9th grade honors project! Official 68k videographer
~Coxy Leader, Tactical Ops Unit Australia 2822 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 20:52:26 Altronics here in town has 2 solar panels left for just $110 each... hmmm. ~Coxy - Leader, Tactical Operations Unit Mayor of NuBus City v3.0
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 21:13:13 quote: What about making your own UPS? 2 Motorcycle batteries, one Power Inverter... a solar input... There are multiple places online talking about how to make a UPS, or better yet, find one someon is throwing away... odds are it just needs new batteries. Many use gel packs, but you can use motorcycle or car batteries. That's very much the plan - but without the inverter. It's an added expense (a pretty big one too) when all I'd want to power is the 605 and router - 12, 9 and 5v there... 2 car batteries, a charger, and a set of voltage regulators should do the trick. There are combination inverter/chargers about that take solar power in, charge lead/acid batteries AND would power a 605 - but thats too easy! dana (making things hard :D Quadra 605 Obsessions
catsdorule Senior Member Canada 1627 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 21:38:53 Up here in Winnipeg, we have very few power outages, so as I doubt i'd need to get solar power, you know all those hydro-electric dams yp here in canada. But I just thought of something! Say if you went up to the cabin and you wanted to use your laptop for more then 4 hours and you don't wan't to drain your car battery, that would be a perfect idea! Also On country roads where there is little trsffic it could doubble as a booster when your battery dies! -Danny "Windows(win-doze): A 32-bit extension to a 16-bit graphical shell of an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit processor by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition."
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 21:47:13 quote: Up here in Winnipeg, we have very few power outages, so as I doubt i'd need to get solar power, you know all those hydro-electric dams yp here in canada. But I just thought of something! Say if you went up to the cabin and you wanted to use your laptop for more then 4 hours and you don't wan't to drain your car battery, that would be a perfect idea! Also On country roads where there is little trsffic it could doubble as a booster when your battery dies! That seems to be the general use for solar stuff atm - a useful supplement for little emergencies like that. One of the kits I came across was a car battery tricklecharger for those who get lost and end up flat. Technically, the power outages here aren't any kind of problem - if my only downtime were because of them I'd -still- be up for 99.9% of the time... it's more a "this is neat!" thing :D dana Quadra 605 Obsessions
Flash Full Member Australia 637 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 22:26:37 what a cool idea! have you considered doing bypassing the 240v power supply altogether? that way you wouldn't need an inverter, and you could probably get a kitset from JayCar or Trickie Dickies (dick smith electronics that is) that would do it for somewhat less than $800 68k ParaMedic
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 22:34:46 quote: what a cool idea! have you considered doing bypassing the 240v power supply altogether? that way you wouldn't need an inverter, and you could probably get a kitset from JayCar or Trickie Dickies (dick smith electronics that is) that would do it for somewhat less than $800 Absolutely - the $800 would be around $600 for the panel - a 65w or so, which should power the 605 and charge batteries optimally - the rest for battery(or batteries) and... a little extra for the electronic do-it-myself-work. The DSE kits would go fair well I think - the only worry is whether there's any kind of voltage drop when the charging system swaps from charging batteries/605 to just powering the 605 from batteries... or whether it's a gradual process, or whether a power filter would help there. All stuff to read on :D dana Quadra 605 Obsessions
Flash Full Member Australia 637 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 23:22:45 Just bear in mind that I have not given this a great deal of thought, and therefore I might miss something obvious or say something stoopid..... You could power the 605 off a car battery via a small voltage regulator circuit to give you +-5v for the electronics and 12v for the HD (or whatever the required voltages actually are - I havn't looked at the specs yet) and then you solar cell trickle charges the battery via a small charger circuit. It should be possible to also have your Mac mains powered, and connect the above circuitry to the low voltage side of the 605 (a couple of well placed rectifiers as protection should stop power going from the transformer 'backwards' to the battery) That would effectively give you a solar UPS. <notes to self> To run the 605 full time off solar via battery, the deciding calculation is how long will the mac run off the battery? gotta charge the battery faster than it's being drained, damn need a calcumelater.... just looked at pizza power supply and it is +-5v and 12v at 3.25A methinks that the supply is probably over rated and the motherboard draws bugger all current, so most of it would be the HD </notes to self> well ya got me thinking dana. I'm home sick today and I need something to occupy the brain... I've got some circuits around here and if I find something useful I'll scan and post the URL cheers Flash! 68k ParaMedic
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 22 Sep 2002 : 23:30:21 quote: You could power the 605 off a car battery via a small voltage regulator circuit to give you +-5v for the electronics and 12v for the HD (or whatever the required voltages actually are - I havn't looked at the specs yet) and then you solar cell trickle charges the battery via a small charger circuit. It should be possible to also have your Mac mains powered, and connect the above circuitry to the low voltage side of the 605 (a couple of well placed rectifiers as protection should stop power going from the transformer 'backwards' to the battery) That would effectively give you a solar UPS. <notes to self> To run the 605 full time off solar via battery, the deciding calculation is how long will the mac run off the battery? gotta charge the battery faster than it's being drained, damn need a calcumelater.... just looked at pizza power supply and it is +-5v and 12v at 3.25A methinks that the supply is probably over rated and the motherboard draws bugger all current, so most of it would be the HD </notes to self> well ya got me thinking dana. I'm home sick today and I need something to occupy the brain... I've got some circuits around here and if I find something useful I'll scan and post the URL The solar UPS is one idea - but again, making it hard for m'self, it'd be nice to have it 100% solar. just cos. :D. The trickle charge then may not be enough - I'd have to charge the battery(s) with the available sunlight, ready for the night... so I'm thinking that'd need to be full-on. As for time, a 100amp-hour/12v car battery should keep a 26w 605 and 5w of router going for a bit under half that time - say 40 hours, perhaps 30... that's fine for overnight, but may not cover cloudy days when almost nothing is charging. 2 batteries then, could be the go. The bits I was reading at www.tasmanenergy.com.au had a ~100Ah battery being optimally charged at 35w (I think... gonna have to read it again when I order the book) so a 60-65w panel should do just fine. oooh it's all exciting :D. even if I never do a -thing- I'm getting an idea How Stuff Works... that's the greatest fun in life :). dana Quadra 605 Obsessions
danamania Official 68k Muse Australia 1193 Posts	Posted - 23 Sep 2002 : 00:05:05 Hmm. Wonder how many watts I could generate from pedalling... dana (off to think more random thoughts) Quadra 605 Obsessions
Flash Full Member Australia 637 Posts	Posted - 23 Sep 2002 : 00:22:53 Isn't there a point with solar cells where enough sunlight is enough to keep them working? (at an optimal level I guess?) I thought that cells basically worked so long as there was sunlight - extremely overcast and rainy days excepted. As for night time you could always shine a torch on it Here's some circuit diagrams that I've dug up. I'm off to look at the tassy site now..... 68k ParaMedic Edited by - flash on 23 Sep 2002 00:25:03
catsdorule Senior Member Canada 1627 Posts	Posted - 25 Sep 2002 : 08:22:35 I wonder how many calculator solar panels it would take to run a powerbook... -Danny "Windows(win-doze): A 32-bit extension to a 16-bit graphical shell of an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit processor by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition."
LoneRanger Starting Member 31 Posts	Posted - 25 Sep 2002 : 12:33:24 You might be able to save a good deal of money if you went to ebay, if you trust that: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2055567406 Only 4.15 per watt, at under 440.00 including shipping to the US.
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 25 Sep 2002 : 21:00:09 wow... this seems like it'd be really fun to do! we haven't enough sunlight here to actually power a whole quadra full time (even with LOTS of batteries) but it'd be really fun to make something of the sort with solar power... i'd love to try with a small panel and an old UPS (replaced batteries) for powering little things like lights and eventually, hopefully with a larger panel (i simply can't afford the $900 for the one iWant right now :) i'd want to use solar to power my PowerBook or a server (that is, my server that's installing NT5 beta 2 with a time limit crack rightnow, and that PB that I'll be getting for birthday in February Official 68k videographer
Clinton Full Member USA 700 Posts	Posted - 26 Sep 2002 : 15:56:12 If you are going to bypass the PS, DON'T wire the panel directly to the mobo, etc. You must use a line conditioner that will clean the noise out of the power, and convert some of it to +5VDC for other uses. unless you want fricaseed quadra, make sure you know what you are doing. or just go with the inverter. good luck CCC Lieutennant Commander (Pronounced Leftennant) Guardian of Obsolete Equipment 68k Macs Rescued: 2 Pluses, a 512KE, a Classic II, and a Quadra 650 Contraband rescued: Power Computing PowerBase 200, and a PM 8600/300 Apple // series rescued: Apple //e
maclover5 LC Doctor/Hot Rodder Australia 5830 Posts	Posted - 26 Sep 2002 : 21:20:41 iWant! But....imagine how sexy a bunch of pristine condition LC575s (yes, i just had to bring this up) would look running off a Big@$$ bunch of solar panels!!! iReally do want! -------------------------- "I keep my friends close, but I keep my enemies closer" - Unkown Warrior maclover5 68k Macintosh Liberation Army Number of 68ks Liberated: 6
Trash80toG-4 NIGHT STALKER USA 2899 Posts	Posted - 27 Sep 2002 : 05:40:07 iLamp with a triple-swivel arm setup with a Solar cell array/LCD sunshade and a satellite dish to complement the LCD for remote location TV viewing. jt ™. Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF
Marchie Chaplain USA 911 Posts	Posted - 27 Sep 2002 : 11:15:52 One of the reasons I'd sugested the power inverter, even tho there IS a loss of power associated, was to combat that "Power Dip" you were referring to when switching from one power source to another. I forget the name of the gizmo that deals with that switching process inside a UPS, but again, if you find an old one in a trash heap (or under a co-workers desk) you may be able to rip that gizmo out of it for use. ~Marchie ~Chaplain Marchie Admin of The WonderLAN ~~"We are all Mad here"~~
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 01 Jan 2003 : 02:49:39 ooOOoo... I got a great inspirational strike... learned some shocking truth.... and probably won't be able to fit it all into this post 1) there's a problem with "sine waves" and apple's PSUs... the sine waves that most inverters make are not "true sine waves" but rather... they are very blocky and synthesized...a "true sine wave inverter" will set someone back... ALOT!!!! anyway... yeah the book says about "older models" of apple's computers frying 2 PSUs and a mobo in just a few months of usage on an inverter... .ME just can see what it be like watching a MacII catch on fire because of solar :-\ 2) the better thing... I think I have an idea of how to get forever lasting solar energy!! but SSSHH! I'm planing on trying to get a patent on this...:::::: 2-3 solar panels are in the sunshine charging a battery, when it starts to get dark... this battery powers a few little UV ray producing lights that are actually above many many more solar panels which are getting their charge constantly THEN we plunk down a grand (USD) for a true sinewave converter so that our MacIIs don't blow up... the book says that "Apple's Laptops operate just fine" on the modified sinewaves Official 68k videographer
MrLynn Junior Member USA 394 Posts	Posted - 01 Jan 2003 : 06:32:57 quote: 2-3 solar panels are in the sunshine charging a battery, when it starts to get dark... this battery powers a few little UV ray producing lights that are actually above many many more solar panels which are getting their charge constantly A perpetual-motion machine! /Mr Lynn The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space program. --Larry Niven
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 01 Jan 2003 : 21:49:46 I have an idea for the perpetual motion machine! don't think that I don't... it involves a generator powered by an electric moter... which gets it's power from the generator but I don't have generators and motors :-\ and the solar panel thing is easier to do... and has less... "friction" you could say in working Official 68k videographer
shawzam Starting Member USA 3 Posts	Posted - 10 Jan 2003 : 07:56:20 quote: I have an idea for the perpetual motion machine! don't think that I don't... it involves a generator powered by an electric moter... which gets it's power from the generator Great idea...but you'll get stopped by the efficiencies of the motor and generator. The motor will want to pull more power then the generator can produce and eventually the system will run itself to zero. So far there is no way around the pesky Laws of Thermo that prevent perpetual motion!
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 10 Jan 2003 : 17:33:39 the solar idea at least let's us turn off the bulb in the day and put it all outside to collect the power that way also Official 68k videographer

68k Macintosh Liberation Army Forums

68k of the Week: kastegir's PowerBook 180.