Off grid greenhouse update

Well after getting the solar panels cleaned up I managed to run some tests and again is wasn't the most positive of results.

After digging out the old solar regulator and hooking it up to the battery a load of strange things started to happen it was showing the load on the battery but didn’t seem to put feeding any voltage from the from the panels to charge up the battery. No amount of probing or swapping out cables seemed to fix this so I had to order a new regulator

To be honest, this has worked out better I was missing the case for the old one and some corrosion was apparent

The new regulator was just as cheap but featured usb ports and multiple 12v outputs that I can use to streamline the wiring for my ventilation and irrigation. So hopefully this will be £6 well spent

Hooking it up everything seemed normal the pictures corresponded, and the voltage steadily increased over the few days sun we have had since installing.

I Have just wired the pump in as a load by itself and through the 4 way manifold I can run a totally off-grid hose pipe within the greenhouse.

One thing that has became apparent is that the load drawn when the water pump is running could quite quickly flatten the battery.

The 10w solar panels may not be enough for my plan of running both ventilation and irrigation and may need to be substituted for a larger set of panels.

*** Well i jumped the gun and ordered some another panel***

I’ve been looking at a 40w panel that should be able to keep the batteries topped up with the increased load of running both the ventilation systems and also the irrigation system

My only issue is that is may not fit in the same spot that they are currently mounted and a new location will need to be looked at and mounting system developed.

Im not going to lie I would actually like to build a pan and tilt tracking mount but this would only be if funds allow….

Hunting around for a good deal for a 40w panel i ended up on ebay and stumbled on a 40w panel with cabling and a decent enough regulator for £60 delivered which isn't a bad investment in the time it would save me watering, opening windows or installing self opening windows etc.

This is hard to get a size of scale but its roughly twice the size of the 10w panel but puts out so much more current

It’s currently just propped up against a planter but I have been drawing up some plans and gathering materials to make a better mount.

Having roughly 50w of solar power now charged the 7ah sealed lead acid battery up super quick from flat to 14v within a couple of hours of sunshine.

Now that the power/charging situation is sorted im in a mad rush to get the autonomy sorted out for both ventilation and watering before the temperature start hitting 30oC and above on a regular basis. So far with the ground/water butts still being cold it's only getting up to around 25-27oC in the GH with an outside air temperature of 10oC so if i'm not quick i could end up cooking a look of seedings without constant human intervention.

The excitement is starting to kick in as this system is so close to becoming operational and a lot of the fruit and veg in the greenhouse is starting to develop quickly.

The next post will either be on my experiments growing my own mushrooms or the finished electronics for the greenhouse which ever gets done first....

All the Best

Digital Dan