Projects:Microgrid

Description Forum to discuss microgrid efforts to make the camp more sustainable
Has website
Persons working on Hadez, Ln, RalfZ, Tiefpunkt, Ulib, Zoe
Self-organized sessions
Tags solar, pv, photovolatics, power, microgrid, offgrid, wind, windpower, electricity, storage
Located at village Village:Infuanfu, Village:Munich Maker Village, Village:/dev/lol
Other projects... ... further results

Participating Villages and their gear

infuanfu Village

We've got a small solar (PV) setup to power our camping fridges and charge phones. That's all nice and well, but we could do far better if we interconnect several PV setups into an ad-hoc microgrid. Long term dream is a microgrid architecture based on as much opensource technology as possible.

Come by for a chat and discuss the future!

  • 4x 12V/5A panels
  • MPPT controller
  • 12V / 100Ah solar battery
  • 230V -> 12V trickle charger (just in case)
  • 12V -> 5V (USB)
  • 12V minifridge (aka box cooler)

We also have a few (really few, like 8 or so) spare MC4 plugs + crimp tool if you need to fix your cables :)

Munich Maker Village

We brought 6 100W panels, which we connected in three separate setups.

  • 1 panel connected to a Goal Zero Yeti 400
  • 3 panels connected to a cheap PWM charger and 2 12V 24Ah batteries
  • 2 panels connected to a cheap PWM charger and 1 12V 80Ah batteries

Setups were build in succession, as batteries and charges arrived, so they might not make sense from a configuration standpoint. We used those setups to power a number of different devices:

  • 1 cheap thermoelectric coolbox (~60W)
  • 1 decent compressor coolbox
  • Small sound system
  • Charging phones and gear via USB from the Yeti, the two charge controllers, or dedicated car USB adapters
  • USB-C laptop charger for 12V [1]
  • MagSafe 2 charger for 12V
  • DECT batteries via NiMh battery charger
  • Some 230V gear via the Yeti's inverter

More information

How to participate

You or your village want to take part in this? Here's some ideas how to do so:

  • Come to our discussion session
  • Bring your own solar (or other renewable energy source) setup
  • Hook up to one of our villages and use our solar power instead of the generators
    • Make sure to bring enough cables
    • Altervatively, bring a 12V battery, chances are we can charge it, and you can take it back to your place

Gear recommendations

TBD