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Power Gnome ... never generate kilowatts of power alone. State University of NY at Buffalo EE: 494 Capstone Design Spinelli, Yore. Fri. May 04, 2007: Final. Mandate for design. UB Green under Walter Simpson are developing a solar powered exhibition trailer.
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Power Gnome... never generate kilowatts of power alone. State University of NY at Buffalo EE: 494 Capstone Design Spinelli, Yore Fri. May 04, 2007: Final
Mandate for design • UB Green under Walter Simpson are developing a solar powered exhibition trailer. • Specification: April 30th 2007 • Construction: Fall 2007 • Photovoltaic power production to reach 2.8 kilowatts / hour • Consumption will vary • But how do we keep track of it all…..?
…. The POWER GNOME! • A autonomous datacenter that monitors: • PV array voltage • the main power bus voltage • PV array current output • Charge controller output current • Main power bus output current
Characteristics • Real-time oscillo-graph display • Automatic time/date stamped logging • Open format/Excel readable • Practical Validation of PV power production
Education • ‘How Efficient Am I?’ template • Visitor estimation of home power use and potential savings • PV Sizer • Allow visitor psudo-design of PV system • PSPICE • Visitor demo of EE design software
Entertainment • Spool Multimedia playlist to PV trailer PA system • Queue conservation and environment action videos • Able to display a 640x480 video and maintain normal operations
State of Charge Monitor • Sample half-rail voltage • 60% depth of discharge, audible alarm • 80% depth of discharge, cut off all power • Obviously, also disables power to the Gnome, but reserve monitor continues to function • Final product has built in Hysteresis (relay pull-in vs. drop-out) • Power returns at 40% depth of discharge
Bringing the Gnome to Life • PV environment dictates extreme low power • VIA C3 Eden embedded microprocessor @ 11 watts • Carbon Neutral item @ Pentium III / Gen 1 P4 performance • Complete item nominal @ 34 watts
Design Highlights • Current flow measurements @ the mV level • Utilize operational amplifiers to ramp into a 0 to 5 volt working range . • Inverting Differential design implemented for PV panel output current & charge controller output current.
Programming Highlights • MS-Dos Batch configuration of bootup, system maintenance, etc. • Modified initialization files for ‘Tracer DAQ’. • Autolaunch with predefined trace configuration and logging parameters. • How-To guide for ‘quick-n-easy’ startup.
Known Issues: • [1] - Tracer DAQ suffers buffer overflow - Solutions: a- MCC SDK b- further analysis of initialization routine to rectify issue. ** Gnome will be ready for practical use after this is addressed.
Demonstration • Startup • Real-time display • Log system • How Efficient am I? • PV Sizer (region 695 = WNY) • State of Charge Monitor