We recently deployed a solar-powered Things Industries’ Generic Node in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It connects via LoRa to a Things Network solar powered gateway. Using the Generic Node’s onboard sensors to collect data, the readings are published on a Datacake Dashboard. We will be testing the system performance with different power loads and in different lighting conditions.
Components for Solar Powered Node
- Generic Node
- Antenna
- Cable straps
- 0.3 Watt 3.3 Volt Solar Power System with Lithium Ion Capacitor
Waterproof enclosure with integrated solar panel, Lithium Ion Capacitor, Generic Node and antenna.
A couple things that struck us during this process:
- Apart from some initial configuration issues, it was pretty straightforward to connect the node to the network and the network to an IoT platform
- The Things Network’s available documentation made debugging the Generic Node simple and provided relevant instruction
- The low power mode is very good – we’re transmitting every 10 minutes and the Lithium Capacitor is staying full – more details to come here
Data Transmission and Power Consumption
View the live feed here.
We are currently transmitting capacitor voltage, temperature and humidity to Datacake every 10 minutes via a webhook from The Things Stack. With this configuration we are barely seeing any fluctuation in battery capacity. We expect the system to perform in less optimal conditions (shady for all or part of the day), but it will be relatively straightforward to test.
Battery voltage, humidity and temperature reported by Generic Node
Node and Gateway Location
The node is currently deployed on the Brooklyn Grange and the Gateway is northeast by about 1km.
Location of Solar Powered Gateway and Node in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Generic Node with the East River and Manhattan in the background.
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