power News - Page 2 of 16 - CNX Software

January 18, 2024January 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 gets a PoE HAT+ kit that doubles as a cooling solution

Waveshare PoE HAT(F) is an 802.3af/at-compliant 24W Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) HAT+ board designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 that also cools the SBC with its embedded fan, a heatsink, and two thermal pads. The Chinese company has beaten Raspberry Pi to it as the UK company is working on releasing the L-shaped 25W “PoE+ HAT(+) for Raspberry Pi 5” a little later. The existing official Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT delivers up to 25.5 Watts which would be enough to power the Pi 5, but since the PoE header has been moved to another location, it’s not compatible anymore, so new solutions are needed such as the Waveshare PoE HAT(F). Waveshare PoE HAT(F) specifications: Supported SBC – Raspberry Pi 5 only Connected via 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header and 4-pin PoE header PoE (Power Over Ethernet) IEEE 802.3af/at-compliant Input voltage – 37V-57V DC input Output 2-pin header – 12V/2A max GPIO header […]

January 10, 2024January 10, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Emporia Vue Gen 2 energy monitor ships with 16 CT clamps, supports single and three-phase power

We’ve just written about the “Smart Powermeter” measuring the power consumption of AC appliances through six CT clamps and running either ESPHome or Arduino firmware on ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller. Some people asked about tri-phase and having more CT clamps. One of the commenters then recommended readers to look at the Emporia Vue energy monitor that ships with 16 CT clamps for individual devices/rooms, two 200A CT clamps for whole house monitoring, and supports single-phase up to 240VAC line-neutral, single, split-phase 120/240VAC, and three-phase up to 415Y/240VAC (no Delta). So let’s do that now. Emporia Vue Gen 2 specifications: Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 Probes 2x 200A current sensors for service mains; 3.5mm plug; dimensions: 65 x 44 x 41mm 16x 50A current sensors to individually monitor air conditioner, furnace, water heater, washer, dryer, range, etc; 2.5mm plug, dimensions: 41 x 23 x 26; accurate from ±2% […]

December 22, 2023December 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

SONOFF iPlug S60 – A $10.9 compact WiFi smart socket with built-in energy monitoring function

SONOFF iPlug S60 is a compact ESP32-C3-based WiFi smart socket with built-in energy monitoring support and available with either Type E/F or Type G prongs for respectively European and British markets, as well as other countries using those types of sockets. ITEAD has manufactured home automation devices that measure power consumption for years, such as the SONOFF POW switch directly connected to the mains or the SONOFF S31 smart socket, but those are/were much larger devices, and the new SONOFF iPlus S60 is fairly small and barely larger than some other smart sockets that lack an energy monitoring function, whiling handling up to 16A or 4,000W at 220-250V. SONOFF iPlug specifications: Wireless MCU – ESP32-C3 RISC-V microcontroller with 2.4GHz WiFi 4 802.11b/g/n S60TPG Plug type – Type G (UK) Input – 250V, 50/60Hz, 13A max Max load – 3,250 Watts Dimensions – 58 x 58 x 42 mm Weight – […]

November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

KWS-302WF whole house WiFi power meter supports up to 63A, power control, features a color display

KWS-302WF is an inexpensive WiFi power meter with a color display and power control that is suitable for the whole house since it can handle up to 63A/17kW and supports DIN Rail mounting in a fuse box or cabinet. Installation is made through the neutral and live wires, and the display shows voltage, current, power, energy consumption, power factor, frequency, and temperature through an external temperature probe. Multiple KWS-302WF can be monitored and controlled through a mobile app which may make suitable suitable for apartment buildings as well. KWS-302WF specifications: Voltage range – 170-270V Current range – 0 to 63A Power range – 0 to 17 kW Energy range – 0 to 9999 kWh Timer range – 0 to 999 hours Temperature Range – -20 to +150°C (that is for the temperature sensor, and not the actual operating temperature range…) Frequency Range – 50 to 60 Hz Power Factor – […]

August 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Coin cell-powered boards provide an easy way to test USB-C cables

The A2C caberQU and C2C caberQU boards enable the quick and easy testing of respectively USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-C cables without external hardware. Powered by a CR2032 coin cell battery, the boards apply a voltage to all pins of a cable and measure which ones are connected to the other end. The results can be visualized immediately through various LEDS on the board. The C2C caberQU board comes with a dedicated LED for each of the 24 USB pins and the shield, and it’s possible to test the USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable in several different modes: USB 2.0/1.1 USB Power Delivery USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 Alternate Mode Debug Accessory Mode Audio Adapter Accessory Mode The A2C caberQU board has fewer pins and LEDS for testing USB-A to USB-C cables specifically, but it works the same way. Peter Traunmüller (aka petl) has shot a video showing one of […]

April 19, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

EVerest is an open-source software stack for car charging stations

EVerest open source car charging station software

EVerest is a software project initiated by PIONIX GmbH, but now part of the Linux Foundation’s LFEnergy initiative, whose primary goal is to develop and maintain an open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. EVerest supports multiple standards and it will run on any device from AC home chargers to public DC charging stations. I noticed the EVerest project in an upcoming talk at the Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 entitled ” EVerest: Electric Vehicle Chargers With Open Hardware and Software” and whose abstract reads in part: You will learn how to build your own electric vehicle charger using open hardware designs in combination with the EVerest open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. Following a quick introduction to EV charging technology, with explanations of the standards, protocols, and complexities involved, the talk will go into a deep dive into how you can build your own AC charging station. Reference […]

April 14, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 schedule – Zephyr OS, Security, IoT, Embedded Linux, and more

The Linux Foundation has just announced the full schedule for the Embedded Open Source Summit, which will take place on June 27-30, 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic, as well as virtually starting on June 26. Over 175 sessions, birds of a feather (BoF) tracks, and workshops related to embedded and open-source innovation will be presented at the event itself comprised of six micro conferences: Automotive Linux Summit Europe, Embedded IoT Summit, Embedded Linux Conference, LF Energy Embedded Summit, Safety-Critical Software Summit, and Zephyr Project Developer Summit. Even though I’m not going to attend personally, I’ve gone through the schedule to create my own little virtual schedule with some sessions relevant that should be interesting to me and hopefully to CNX Software readers. Monday, June 26 (Virtual sessions) The first day of the event will have a Yocto Dev training in the morning, and a bunch of virtual sessions that are […]

February 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Install a server in your house, get free hot water!

Heata, which began as an innovation project with British Gas, is a UK company that connects a server to your hot water cylinder and provides hot water to the house master for free up to 4.8 kWh per day, and at least 2.5 kWh as per contractual obligations. Companies spend millions of dollars to cool the servers hosted in their data centers and most of that heat is completely wasted. So Heata decided to create a win-win solution that lowers their cooling cost and provides free hot water to whoever has their server installed in their house. The installation process is said to be tested and approved by British Gas so you don’t lose your hot water cylinder warranty, and the heat transfer mechanism is patented as well under the UK patent GB2576035. A technician would come to cut the insulation and attach a thermal bridge to the cylinder. The […]