We are now Solar Powered • Hacker News Board

Re: We are now Solar Powered

#81

Post by londons_explore » Mon, Sep 27, 2021, 7:52 AM UTC

mackmgg wrote: post #35

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #33

Not directly related to solar-powered-servers, but rather power-involved-in-computing ... I have a solar powered van (not the engine, alas), and it has been amazing to understand how a day of my kind of computing (edit/compile/debug cycle with C++) uses more power than the 12VDC refridgerator in the van. The computer is a small custom built direct-to-12VDC miniITX with an i5 processor. The refridgerator literally has…

If you don't need all of the speed, I'd recommend disabling power boost. My i9 laptop averages ~10-15W with it disabled, compared to the ~20W my fridge uses. Even when maxed out CPU it's only ~40W, compared to ~100W with power boost enabled. That's more than double the power despite only being a modest speed increase!

Unless you live on a very tight power budget (eg. van/boat life off-grid), the power your laptop uses is probably a rounding error with or without power boost.

Besides - power boost only affects usage when actually stressing the CPU, which for most people is rare. Gamers are probably the exception.

Re: We are now Solar Powered

#82

Post by Scoundreller » Mon, Sep 27, 2021, 10:06 AM UTC

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #72

Scoundreller wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dry it inside in summer for the free cooling.

The added humidity will make it not worth it in most places. OTOH in Winter you may want the extra humidity.

If you’re in a place where your stuff dries outdoors in 15 minutes, the added humidity indoors won’t be a problem.

Re: We are now Solar Powered

#83

Post by louwrentius » Mon, Sep 27, 2021, 8:06 PM UTC

eldersnake wrote: post #65

louwrentius wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My own blog - running on a solar-powered Raspberry Pi 3b+ was also hugged by HN, but it didn't even sweat. [0] [0]: https://louwrentius.com/this-blog-is-now-running-on-solar-po...

Nice! I'm amazed I haven't seen your blog before, and you've done a much better job than I did overall. (I'm the author of the article btw) I will have to take some notes...

Thanks, your setup is more true to the concept as my switches, modem and router aren’t powered by solar.

Low tech magazine does link to my blog somewhere, as well as other, similar projects. Maybe they will also include yours!

You have a lot of sun probably so you lead acid battery will work. But lead acid needs to be recharged daily or the battery will deteriorate quickly. For more temperate climates lead acid is not ideal. And lead acid charges too slow for the little bit of sun we may have…