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Small system monitoring
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Timberwolf
Dec 27, 2009, 9:13:30 AM12/27/09
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Does any one have a good schmatic and parts list for building your own
amp & volt monitoring system? I have 4 home made 60W panels that I
want to be able to monitor easly without disconnecting anything. I
have a analog volt meter that was working fine, when I try to hook up
a analog amp meter things seem to shut down when I tested it on a
battery. I have not connected the amp meter to the panels yet. I would
like to be able to have the meters registerng all the time without
sucking power from the panels.
amp & volt monitoring system? I have 4 home made 60W panels that I
want to be able to monitor easly without disconnecting anything. I
have a analog volt meter that was working fine, when I try to hook up
a analog amp meter things seem to shut down when I tested it on a
battery. I have not connected the amp meter to the panels yet. I would
like to be able to have the meters registerng all the time without
sucking power from the panels.
Thank you in advance.
Josepi
Dec 27, 2009, 10:00:30 AM12/27/09
to
You need a more sensitive **ammeter** and voltmeter unless you are measuring
the **current** across your supply.
the **current** across your supply.
"Timberwolf" <da...@timberwolf-inc.com> wrote in message
news:4b29a130-7333-40e9...@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com...
spaco
Dec 28, 2009, 12:00:38 PM12/28/09
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Tell us more about "things seem to shut down---". Where did you get
the ammeter and what is its scale in amperes? Is it possible that you
connected the ammeter directly across the battery terminals? That would
certainly ruin it.
What do you mean "home made panels"? How do you know they are 60
watts, and what voltages are they? Are they all the same? Are the
panels connected in series or in parallel? What are the open circuit
voltages in bright sun? Why do you say that you have an "analog volt
meter that was working fine"? Are these meters simple panel meters or
are they analog "multimeters"?
How often do you need to "monitor"? A few times a day by just
walking by and looking at the meters? Once a minute for as long as the
sun is up? Do you want automatic reading and recording of the data?
What is your background with electricity?
the ammeter and what is its scale in amperes? Is it possible that you
connected the ammeter directly across the battery terminals? That would
certainly ruin it.
What do you mean "home made panels"? How do you know they are 60
watts, and what voltages are they? Are they all the same? Are the
panels connected in series or in parallel? What are the open circuit
voltages in bright sun? Why do you say that you have an "analog volt
meter that was working fine"? Are these meters simple panel meters or
are they analog "multimeters"?
How often do you need to "monitor"? A few times a day by just
walking by and looking at the meters? Once a minute for as long as the
sun is up? Do you want automatic reading and recording of the data?
What is your background with electricity?
Go to my webpage on this topic to see an example of one way to do it.
http://www.spaco.org/PV/PVSolar.htm
The more of the above questions you answer, the more help you will get.
Pete Stanaitis
----------------------------------------------------------
BobG
Dec 29, 2009, 1:20:02 AM12/29/09
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> Timberwolf wrote:
> > Does any one have a good schmatic and parts list for building your own
> > amp & volt monitoring system? I have 4 home made 60W panels that I
> > want to be able to monitor easly without disconnecting anything. I
> > have a analog volt meter that was working fine, when I try to hook up
> > a analog amp meter things seem to shut down when I tested it on a
> > battery. I have not connected the amp meter to the panels yet. I would
> > like to be able to have the meters registerng all the time without
> > sucking power from the panels.
===================================================> > Does any one have a good schmatic and parts list for building your own
> > amp & volt monitoring system? I have 4 home made 60W panels that I
> > want to be able to monitor easly without disconnecting anything. I
> > have a analog volt meter that was working fine, when I try to hook up
> > a analog amp meter things seem to shut down when I tested it on a
> > battery. I have not connected the amp meter to the panels yet. I would
> > like to be able to have the meters registerng all the time without
> > sucking power from the panels.
Since I am a microcontroller programmer, I have noticed that many of
my designs seem to involve using a microcontroller and some custom
software to do some data aquisition and calculations. Lots of
microcontrollers have 8 channel a/d converters. I like AVRs. They have
a 10 bit converter, and they also have a gain of 10 differential mode
where you could measure the IR drop across a current sensing resistor
in series with the PV output. Since you are only building one
controller, you could use 'any old microcontroller' that doesnt have
diff mode and gain, and you could use any old 25 cent opamp to give
you the diff mode and gain for the current sniff. Main equation used
in the program is watts=volts x current.
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