Instructions
Table Of Contents
- Introduction
- Parts
- Using Alligator Clips
- Solar Board Reference
- Project 1 – Sun Finder
- Project 2 – Garden Light
- Project 3 – Self Charging Cooling Fan
- The BBC micro:bit
- Getting Code to Run on the micro:bit
- Project 4 – Adding an Energy Meter
- Project 5 – Energy Logger
- Connecting Up
- Code for the Energy Logger (MakeCode)
- How it works
- Connecting to Your PC
- Pairing Your micro:bit With MakeCode
- Showing the Device Console Graph
- Capturing Data From a Charge and Discharge Cycle
- Downloading Data
- Getting Data into a Spreadsheet Program
- Analysing the Data
- Graphing the Data
- Results
- Understanding the Data
- Understanding Duty Cycle
- How the Solar Store Works
- Project 6 – Intelligent Cooling Fan
- Troubleshooting
- About the Author
- Learning
- Monk Makes Kits
PROJECT 2 – GARDEN LIGHT
In this project you will build a device very similar to those stick-in-the-ground self
charging garden lights, that charge up an energy store that then powers a bulb, and
is the first project where you use the energy storage board. By storing the harvested
energy, the Bulb will stay on even when it gets dark.
Connecting Up
The loop cable between the Level and Enable connectors on the Solar Store will
make the board work in standalone mode.
This means that when the amount of stored energy in the board reaches a sufficient
level, it will enable the 3V output and the Bulb will light up. When the amount of
stored energy gets low, the output will automatically be disabled.
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