Always working solar lamp – Part 3: creating a mutant

Intro A while ago I set out to build a solar lamp that can work all the time, especially in the dark winter months. After a while I realized that there is already some version of it in my home. So now it’s time for part 3 SOLVINDEN skeleton, new insides Step 1 – beef up the solar panels: 2 pieces of 6V 133mA each Step 2 – assemble the led head Step 3 –… Continue reading

Always working solar lamp – Part 2: right under my nose

Intro A while ago I set out to build a solar lamp that can work all the time, especially in the dark winter months. Using real solar production data and a simple excel model, I was able to figure out combinations of battery and solar cells that would be able to power the LED in a SOLVINDEN lamp through the dark winter months. But in my laziness, i never ended up building it. Until I… Continue reading

Electric cars are like economic lights

Intro We are now living in a world where incandescent light bulbs are almost completely replaced with LED lamps. LED lighting is everywhere, and delivers good results: good light quality, good price, excellent energy efficiency and pretty much 100% compatible with existing fixtures. But things were not always this great, the journey between now and the old incandescent bulbs is quite a bumpy one. And speaking of a bumpy journey, this journey is a good… Continue reading

Notes on Nikon USB-PD charging

Intro I currently use aNikon Z5 camera. The Z5 is interesting in one aspect, it finally has USB charging using USB-PD. In my opinion, USB charging should have been present in all cameras since they started having a USB port, even if charging with the limited 2.5W will take a long time. But, nowhere in the manual or the specifications does Nikon say what parameters the USB PD charger is working at, so I decided… Continue reading

10002 Progress

This article is part of my 1000² Smart Home project. Check out the Architecture and Software and then move on to Hardware. An most importantly, check the Lessons learned and why I did what I did. There are already some first results, connecting all parts of the system. Progress Finally, enough pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together in my Smart Home project, so that I can have some end to end functionality: press a button here… Continue reading

10002 Lessons learned

This article is part of my 1000² Smart Home project. Check out the Architecture and Software and then move on to Hardware. An most importantly, check the Lessons learned and why I did what I did. There are already some first results, connecting all parts of the system. What? This page covers things I have learned and why I did what I did in my 1000² project. Some experience, random calculations, opinions and thoughts. Battery philosophy So what… Continue reading