This is a little teaser video for my semi-portable solar box.
It’s using an 80 watt cdr-king solar panel and the angle is adjustable. Inside is a 40 Ah motolite solar master battery and a cdrking 10 amp charge controller. There’s a desktop case fan mounted in the top panel to exhaust any heat or battery charging gases from the box. The fan is wired directly to the solar panel so it only runs while its hot outside and the panel is generating power. There’s a little switch box (diy) for turning loads on and off individually.
With the battery removed, I’d estimate the box weighs around 15-20KG and can be moved pretty easily by just one person. With the battery still inside, i’d estimate the weight to be about 35KG and can be moved by one strong person but it’s much easier for two people to use the carrying handles either side.
Aside from expanding my personal solar capacity. This box will serve as a test platform for rescue/charity use. After Yoolanda hit the Philippines, I was a volunteer driver for Oplan Hatid for a few weeks at Villamor airbase. The airforce were flying in survivors from Tacloban and then we’d drive them from Villamor airbase to their family in metro manila, batangas, bulacan, everywhere! Aside from driving, I also provided the wifi that was used by Oplan Hatid volunteers. It was used for map lookups, posting updates or requests for more volunteers, other related activities and to just kill some time while waiting for the planes to land.
I setup multiple access points with different 3G providers for redundancy. Power wasn’t a major issue but occasionally things were unplugged or moved and it did sometimes cause problems. A self contained unit like this that can provide internet, cellphone/radio charging, wifi networking for printers etc etc could be an ideal thing for charities, volunteers and government agencies to keep available for these kind of emergency uses.
Post time: Jun-22-2017