Compact Wind Turbine Generates Up to 800 Watts, Outputs 12V or 24V DC

compact wind turbine

If I had to install some equipment at home were the mains are not easily accessible or would result in long cables, I’d immediately think about issuing solar panels to charge a battery, and discard the idea of using a wind turbine since in my mind those are really large and need to be fitted to a tall pole to be effective. But I’ve recently come across a relatively compact wind turbine that generates up to 800 Watts and outputs 12V to 24V DC. Key features and specifications: Rated Power – 800W Voltage  12V/24V Generator – 3phase AC PMG Rated wind speed –  11.5m/s Safe wind speed – 55m/s Wind direction auto adjustment Number of blades – 3 to 6 Windwheel diameter – 1.35m Material – High-strength PA66 and fiber-reinforced nylon Temperature Range – -40℃-80℃ Those are the specifications for the model I found on Banggood ($295.99), and I have […]

ZS1100A IoT Power Meter Supports Sigrok Open-Source Software (Crowdfunding)

ZS110A power meter

A few months ago, I tested Qoitech Otii Arc power meter & DAQ system designed for developers of IoT devices, and fount out it would be incredibly useful to developers of battery-operated devices since it shows voltage and current graphs synchronized with the serial output making it easy to see where software might be optimized. The system can also capture analog and digital signals from the DUT and emulate batteries with user-defined characteristics. But this weekend, I’ve come across a very similar solution with ZS1100A IoT power meter that also happens to be compatible with Sigrok open-source signal analysis software, and the corresponding Pulseview GUI. ZS1100A IoT power meter specifications: Measurements Output Voltage Range – 0 to 6 V programmable in 10 mV steps with +/- 5mV accuracy, Current Measurement Range – -0.5 A to 1.5 A (linear range) with < 0.1 μA resolution,  accuracy of 1% of measured value […]

Bluetooth USB PD Tester Connects to Windows and Android/iOS Apps for Data Logging

Bluetooth USB PD Tester

We’ve written about USB-C PD power meters in the past such as Satechi USB Type-C power meter. Those allow you to measure (charging) voltage and current displayed on the screen part of the meter. But thanks to Bluetooth and USB connectivity, Riden TC66C USB PD tester allows you to capture and log data over a period of time by connecting to a Windows program or Android/iOS mobile app. There’s also a version without Bluetooth – TC66 – that only works with the Windows program over USB. Riden TC66C/TC66 Bluetooth USB PD tester specifications: Display 0.96″ color IPS display with 160×80 resolution Auto screen off time – Adjustable up to 9 minutes Measurements Voltage Range – 0.005V-30V +/- 0.1mV; accuracy: ±(0.5%+10digits at 23℃) Current Range – 0 to 5A +/- 0.01mA; accuracy: ±(1%+20 digits, at 23℃) Power Range – 0-150W Temperature Range – 0 to 80°C Load impedance range – 1Ω to 9999.9Ω Charge […]

ATX12VO Standard Reduces Idle Desktop Power of ATX Motherboards

ASRock ATX12VO Motherboard

I remember a few years back when I still used an AMD FX8350 power tower PC power consumption was about 75 Watts at idle, and around 15-20 Watts when the computer was turned off. Those are really high numbers especially considering many systems can now run under full-load for up to 15-20 Watts. Power consumption has vastly improved since, but desktop computers are still not the most efficient even while idled or power off, so a new standard has been created. ATX12VO single rail power supply desktop platform form factor takes out the 3.3- and 5-volt rails from the power supply and relies on the motherboard instead that can handle those voltages more efficiently. The name makes sense as ATX12VO should read as ATX 12 Volts Only. The new motherboard standard was at least partially designed to meet the requirements of upcoming new energy regulations for desktop computers in the […]

Power Sensors and Boards with Water using 5V/12V Micro Water Turbines

Micro Water Turbines

I follow some online IoT groups, and many of the projects are related to smart farming and greenhouses. People may want to monitor temperature and humidity and other environmental factors using battery-powered sensors. If there are many of those sensors, this can be cumbersome to either replace or recharge batteries, and that increases maintenance costs. But since plants usually need to be watered there should be some water pipes around, and I’ve just found out some low-cost micro water turbines that can generate 5V or 12V when connected to a water pipe and water flows. Micro water turbines specifications: Output Voltage 5V model 5 +/- 0.3 VDC water flow 10+ L / min 3 to 5 +/- 0.3 VDC Water flow 4L / min 3 +/- 0.25 VDC Water flow 3.5L / min 12V model 12 +/- 0.3 VDC water flow 10+ L / min 5 ~ 12 +/- 0.3 […]

MONSTER X Portable Power Station Features 4x 2000 Watts AC Sockets, Multiple USB Ports (Crowdfunding)

MONSTER X Portable Power Station

Many people carry a power bank to extend the battery life of their smartphone. MONSTER X portable power station does something similar except with much more power and capacity, as it can extend the range of your electric car by around 12 kilometers. But it’s not only for electric cars, equipped with a 1,278 Wh / 345,600 mAh battery, it also features four AC sockets (US or “International”), multiple USB-Type A and Type-C port to charge or power up to 11 devices simultaneously. MONSTER X key features: Power Output ports 4x AC outlets up to 2000W (3300W surge) using US (110V) or EU (230V) standards 120W car charging port 2x USB Type-C ports compatible with USD PD (Power Delivery) 2x USB Type-A ports compatible with Quick Charge (28W max) 2x 5V USB Type-A ports supporting up to 12W Internal battery charging ports Anderson 12V DC solar input (200W) DC input […]

A First Look at Otii Arc Power Supply, Power Meter, and DAQ Unit

Otii Arc

I have recently been contacted by a Swedish company called Qoitech about their Otii solution that aims to help hardware and software engineers achieve long battery life for their IoT devices or apps. At the heart of Otii is Otii Arc hardware that acts as a power supply, voltage and current meter, and data acquisition (DAQ) unit. The company has now sent me a unit for review. I’ll start with a first quick post describing the device and checking out the hardware and interfaces, before writing my experience, or a getting started guide, with Otti hardware and software. Otii Arc specifications: Current/Voltage Measurement Current Accuracy – ±(0.1% + 50 nA) Sample Rate – in ±19 mA range:  4 ksps;  in ±2.7 A range: 1 ksps;  in 0 – 5 A range: 1 ksps Analog Bandwidth (3dB) –  400 Hz Voltage Total accuracy –  ±(0.1% + 1.5 mV) Sample Rate –  […]

TIL: Some 9V Batteries can be Recharged with a Simple USB Cable

9V Battery USB

9V batteries are/used to be popular for Arduino projects, as they can easily be connected via the power jack of the board. But now that most recent Arduino boards are powered by 5V via a USB Type-C port or Vin in, those are not an option. I thought I found a solution when I saw the following tweet earlier today which looks to provide a convenient way to connect a 9V battery to devices powered by USB. accidentally ran into another cursed adapter: 9v battery to USB pic.twitter.com/laKjIi6wUy — foone (@Foone) January 20, 2020 I was unable to find details about the board, but I suppose the chip close to the USB connector is a 9V to 5V regulator (e.g. LM7805), so this would indeed output 5V. Just don’t expect to fully charge your phone with it, as a typical 9V battery has a 500mAh capacity. [Update: It’s on Retrokits, […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case