Meshtastic

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Does anyone know of a way to make a solar (no battery) meshtastic node? (piefed.social)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by mesamunefire@piefed.social to c/meshtastic@mander.xyz

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Ive had a number of these devices. And the number 1 thing that fails is the battery. It might also be where I am at. We have 110+F days that cause spicy pillows or failures after a year or so.

So I was wondering, is there a way to make a "daytime only" node that turns on where theres enough sunlight to power the thing, and then turns off where there is not enough sunlight?

I figure I could just get a 5V solar panel and hook it up directly to one of the nodes. I'm just nervous that it will under voltage the device over the long run if that makes sense.

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[–] unabart@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I ran a PirateBox on a Pi 0w by connecting it to a pass-through USB battery pack, then the battery pack into one of those tri-fold Anker (or was it Aukey? Been a few years) solar panels. I hung this up in a window that got good sun most of the day (being in San Diego was of benefit here) and that thing would run off battery after sundown and the battery would charge once the sun was back. I wasn’t measuring any voltage or other metrics, but it worked fine.

Have often thought about taking one of the Heltecs in my drawer and firing up a node that way. I still have that same battery in another drawer. I have many drawers.

Edit: fkn typos.