Using Solar power to power Idratek

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  • achapman
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Jan 2006
    • 43

    Using Solar power to power Idratek

    I have just built a shed and was looking to put lighting in it. After some research it seems it is much simpler to use solar power for this as one avoids the complications required to take a feed from the consumer unit, meet building regulations, and run a cable to the shed. No Part P certification is required from a professional electrician and the cabling is more straightforward and possibly cheaper.

    This then started me thinking about my Idratek system. At the moment I'm using a basic MPD-002 to power my system but would like to move to a system using an IPD-001 at some point. Since I presume the 12v power to the Idratek modules doesn't consume much power, so that only a 4Ah battery is used as backup in the IPS-002 unit, it would seem that one could possibly also use solar power to run the Idratek system.

    This would mean that I could do a DIY move to an IPD-001 system without calling in an electrician. I wondered if it was possible to set up a system in which one could connect solar panels with an output of 15.4V to the 75W P1/P2 terminals of the IPD-001. Presumably a larger battery than 4Ah would be needed on the B+ and B- terminals as well. This would have the advantage of making the system independant of mains power.

    Alternatively one could just charge a battery directly from standard panels and use a 12v regulator to supply conditioned 12V power to an MPD-002 if the IPD-001 couldn't handle being repurposed in this way.

    Any thoughts from anyone on this?
  • Karam
    Automated Home Legend
    • Mar 2005
    • 863

    #2
    Probably the best bet is to use the panels to charge some hefty batteries and then derive regulated 12V from these. This can then either feed the MPD or it can still be used to feed an IPD. In the latter case you would feed via the battery connection terminals because in effect that is your backup battery. You wouldn't be able to charge up a secondary 4Ah battery very well from a 12V supply feeding the PSU inputs of the IPD because the 15.4V specification is the minimum which will give sufficient overhead for the IPD charging circuit. So I suppose if going via the IPD you will then not be making use of the battery charging part but you would still get the remainder benefits of spur monitoring/management and automated fault correction and containment.

    I am guessing that power loss from a solar panel is too regular and too prolonged for a 4Ah battery to be practical even for the low power consumption of IDRANet. So feeding direct from the panel to the IPD is maybe not a good idea aside from the issue of voltage regulation. Also bear in mind that the IDRANet consumption does depend on what you have connected and what you are doing with it. For example, though most sensory modules are in the sub 10mA range, if you energise a relay or use audio and backlighting on a DFP then current consumption will rise significantly

    Comment

    • achapman
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Jan 2006
      • 43

      #3
      That's useful. I wasn't sure from the IPD specification sheet whether the unit would operate properly if there was only a backup battery power connection and no primary mains charge connection, but I take it from your comment that it could operate this way. I realise that this means that you aren't using the charging circuit capability of the IPD. I suppose the question then becomes are the other capabilities of the IPD (power monitoring, fail modes and logging etc) sufficient to merit using one over an MPD.

      Comment

      • Karam
        Automated Home Legend
        • Mar 2005
        • 863

        #4
        Probably the more important features of an IPD aside from providing the backup supply are those that can automate some fault correction or containment processes. One would hope that once the initial wiring issues and physical work on the network is completed that faults should not occur, however reality is that although it might be a rare occurance a fault might occur for one reason or another, and because this an automation system and not just your computer or TV you may not be around to notice and deal with the fault and also the consequences can be more disruptive depending on the extent of your automation. So we would always recommend IPDs for installations which are doing more than just dabbling. But ultimately you can decide based on your assessment of the criticality. We certainly know of people who've run for years with just an MPD and maybe a simple diode gated battery backup.

        The kind of thing the IPD can do: Detect a power or data bus short upon which the unit will first isolate all spurs and then test each one before bringing back up the unaffected ones. Obviously you can then be informed of the event by one or more of the communication methods. Another possibility is say a module not responding (locking up) for some reason, in which case Cortex can ask the IPD to reset the spur power to that module and see if it can be recovered in that way. Again the idea is to automate the recovery attempt. You will of course still get a notification of the event and we would also like to know about it too, but at least there is a good chance that recovery can happen without user intervention which could also be delayed if you are not around at the time. There are some other less critical features such as current draw monitoring which might help diagnose overloading issues if you have many modules attached, also for 'soft' overloads the unit will automatically switch off the spurs though for hard ones the fuses will likely blow first. It is also typical and natural to use the IPD as the Cortex watchdog - that is it has responsibility for reseting the network into a Reflex mode of operation should communications with Cortex be lost for some reason. A DFP module can alternatively be used for this and indeed with some manual programming so can a number of other modules, but an IPD is better placed to perform this function because it can perform a 'hard' (power) system reset before modules are put into Reflex mode so you are always assured of a known good starting point.

        Comment

        • chris_j_hunter
          Automated Home Legend
          • Dec 2007
          • 1713

          #5
          just to say, we've found our IPS / IPD (s) invaluable, for all the reasons mentioned, and more - having them is a no-brainer, really, if the HA is to be more than toy ... ours runs 24/7 day after day after day, thanks to them & a UPS for the Cortex PC ...
          Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 5 September 2012, 11:36 PM.
          Our self-build - going further with HA...

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