The number one problem that keeps requiring
in wireless mesh is not the software or hardware but the continuous flow
of electricity. Once again this problem keeps coming up and once
again I keep going back to auxiliary power supplies. There are a
number of commercial applications that take solar power and provide continuous
amount of electricity; however, many of these commercial applications
are being mass produce and the cost are dropping.
My wife purchase a portable power box that can be
recharged from either a house outlet, automobile or solar. The
reason my wife bought it was that the dogs refuse to pull the sled and
we had to charge up the snow machines (Yeah that was suppose to be
Canadian humour, eh?) They have enough amps to start a vehicle with a
dead battery and they have regular North American power outlets. This
particular unit can run an appliance while it is being charged. It
automatically has a resister built in that would prevent a solar panel
from draining the battery when not charging. Basically ready to go unit!
click to enlarge
I'm about to test and see how long a MeshAP with
regular ATX power supply will run with out a recharge. The
specifications indicate it should go for a few days. If I
used the Morex 60W power supply it may go for a week.
click
to enlarge
I will be talking to a local guy about setting up off
the shelf solar panel to recharge the power box. If this works out
then I have to get a bigger Nema enclosure to house both hardware and
power box. My vision is that I will have an antenna assembly with
two solar cells flanking either side of the enclosure with the antenna
sticking out of the box. An all-in-one combination. It
should look a bit like a satellite.
If any of you have a spare solar panels (2 amps) I
could use some.
