smallsolar

Interested in #solar #wind #solarpunk and actually building small solar systems.

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npub13es67syuvsndcsynjrvjvm58tuwn8uf228kkrpxnh4jc3npnwajs5ngq65

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Last Notes

2026-08-01 06:50:52 UTC

Dear all - I'm starting to bundle up my work on porting mainline linux to the Kindle Paperwhite3 - I've got most of the major features but the install process is complicated.
I'm going to put together a custom linux distro for it - no other ones really fit. I've run into a roadblock as I am struggling with a name. It's going to be based on alpine linux, I want to avoid anything that a*mazon can get grumpy about.
Any ideas for names?
#kindle #linux #alpine

2026-07-09 06:51:02 UTC

My #potatoes this year are really struggling, I've regularly watered them but they are still looking a little wilty and haven't really grown in the last 2 weeks, some of the ones near the back with a bit more shade look healthier.
We are currently in our second #heatwave, I wonder if they are just too exposed (not something I expected to have to think as live in the middle of the UK).
Going to explore some form of shade for them, perhaps a net just to break up the sun, any tips?
#gardening #hotweather

2026-05-24 19:11:15 UTC

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nice work!

2026-05-17 15:01:14 UTC

Dear #fediverse friends - does anyone have solar panels attached to their fence and use it to generate electricity (and be happy to share an image or two)?
I'm working on a website to document different types of #stealthsolar and don't have any images of #solarpanels on fences.
#solarpunk #guerillaPV

2026-05-09 08:12:07 UTC

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yeah I learnt this pretty quickly, I think micro meshes are probably the way forward.
Could there be a role for filter nodes so that not all traffic gets dumped onto the mesh?

2026-05-03 06:40:40 UTC

Do you have an example of stealth solar?
I've been thinking a lot about 'stealth solar' where people attach #solarpanels to places in a subtle way to capture the sun's energy. It might be stealth as there are strict rules or just want to keep it low key. #balconysolar is sort of stealth gone mainstream.
With cheaper MPPT devices you can now accept slightly poorer efficiency due to placement and with microinverters don't need to make long strings. I particularly think that there is no point having a solar panel in storage, best get it out there and generating even if it's in a temporary place!
So I thought I'd start a small website that documents different stealth setups, so if you have cheeky solar panels and would be willing to share a little info (but not too much if it would get you in trouble) get in touch.
#stealth #solar #solarpunk #balkonsolar #hiddensolar

2026-04-09 15:10:49 UTC

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just a little update, fixed the MicroPython firmware and I've now got it working over #LoRa, its waking up from deep sleep, announcing, sending some sensor data via a LXMF message and then going back to deep sleep. When awake with LoRa its drawing about 50-70mA and is currently only on for about 5-10 seconds - hopefully will work quite well with solar/battery.

2026-04-05 08:23:38 UTC

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oh good, was getting a bit worried. Just to check are you happy with my using your retic node to connect to?

2026-04-05 06:58:21 UTC

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I've connected to your reticulum node and can see your nomad page. When I host a nomad page on my S3 it only reports a very small amount of free memory - I've flashed with latest MicroPython and your codebase, I feel like I've not configured it correctly. When flashing the device reports 8mb of PSRAM

2026-04-04 14:10:14 UTC

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hey, I've got the s3 working now, starting to mess around with sensors and power saving, didn't know if you had any thoughts on the best way to transmit data, stick it in the announce? or LXMF message on boot?

2026-03-30 07:33:30 UTC

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ordered 🙂

2026-03-29 19:49:47 UTC

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I can easily get an alternative board, so cheap these days.
It does work fine for about 5 minutes, I added `self.online = False` to the exception that prints the poll error in `tcp.py` and that seems to force it to try and reconnect for a period of time and it gets back working again quicker then just waiting and have it erroring

2026-03-29 19:44:19 UTC

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ESP32-C6 board I have has a 4mb of flash, 512kb of SRAM but doesn't have PSRAM and is RISC-V - didn't know if the lack of PSRAM made a difference

2026-03-29 19:43:20 UTC

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(continuing the sensor thought process) I was having a think about efficient uses of reticulum as a sensor network, for remote nodes with aggressive power saving I was thinking that the best option would be for them to wake up, announce and then send a lxmf message to a known destination before going back to sleep, reticulum would then route the packet via whatever route is possible.
While reticulum adds overhead overall for a sensor network I think the built in routing and multi-interface options makes it worthwhile - particularly with these fairly high powered MCUs these days.

2026-03-29 19:38:33 UTC

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I've come across a memory issue with the C6 - I've opened a GitHub issue, currently browsing the code to understand the issue.

2026-03-29 15:00:15 UTC

I have a #coldframe made of perspex and wood which due to its location gets a lot of sun in the morning, I've added some temperature sensors and it can get temps of over 40C at times, this is only for 30-60mins and then it gets a bit of shade and cools down.
I'd like to try and take advantage of this burst of heat but spread it during the day - so Mastodon friends - would adding some thermal mass help, perhaps a plastic bottle of water painted black?
What's nice is that I have sensors so should be able to monitor effectiveness!
#diy
#maker
#gardening
#greenhouse

2026-03-28 20:13:29 UTC

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just to say I've got your code running on an ESP32-C6 (a dfrobot beetle dev board). Wasn't difficult and seems to be running pretty well, seeing a lot of traffic. I've got it connecting to my local node on my WiFi network.
I'm interested in using it for a sensor network backbone.

2026-03-25 06:52:39 UTC

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this is amazing work, I've always liked #Reticulum but was limited that it needed a fairly substantial system to work. Looking forward to having a go with it

2026-03-20 21:57:17 UTC

I've built a webring for solar powered websites and hosted it on squeak! - https://squeak.solarcene.community/webring/
and to make it even better @npub1f85…rzmz has designed a 88x31 graphic - here is a big version
Get in touch if you'd like to join.
#solar #webring
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/116/263/731/297/506/777/original/e61cce49b94d1637.jpeg

2025-12-18 13:24:33 UTC

Finally finished my clunky #postmarketos test rig for mainlining the a5y17lte. I took a very bust up Samsung A5, wired up push buttons for the main buttons, managed to solder to the very small pitch serial line (only get Tx from the phone), printed a case with my 3d printer and then attached a usb-serial converter (1.8v) and it works.
Now to work on the actual kernel! #DecemberAdventure
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/115/740/780/808/111/818/original/95bab83af84a444a.jpeg
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/115/740/780/800/750/389/original/27afe7c63195096f.jpeg

2025-09-18 09:12:01 UTC

#gardening question, I have had an amazing #Tomato crop this year and still have loads of green tomatoes left, the weather is increasingly wet and overcast (UK), do I just harvest them all and bring the m inside to see if they'll turn red with a bit of warmth?

2025-09-13 10:37:43 UTC

Woohoo, my favourite mastodon pastime is pre-ordering books when authors announce them and then forgetting and they arrive.
Today I received "Futures to Live By" by @npub12nl…zkfu and published by polestars books.
Looking forward to reading it. #solarpunk #books #authors #bookstodon
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/115/196/544/155/685/327/original/e7953a389de0fe9c.jpg

2025-08-24 10:36:59 UTC

#solarpunk achievement: just exchanged 1/2kg of our tomatoes for 1kg of our neighbours plums from their over laden tree.
#gardening #FruitTree #community
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/115/083/299/922/501/307/original/5ac02f393081b594.jpg

2025-07-16 17:30:35 UTC

Overall we aren't doing super well with vegetables from the garden, courgettes have been small and quick to go mouldy, french beans have been sparse (though easier to manage as no sudden glut). This year I've commited a whole bed to tomatoes and must admit they seem to be doing well, just got my first red ones. And I've had mixed results with the aeroponics (but that's just an experiment)
I probably should have added some manure to the beds, but it quite possibly has been the very hot weather we've had.
#gardening

2025-06-22 17:10:30 UTC

Behind the kids playhouse we dumped a load of old containers, just found a cheeky oak (I think) trying to grow, moved it now to somewhere more fitting for a future ancient tree.
#gardening #oak #OakTree
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/114/728/117/003/997/180/original/b8b1116219a1d7bb.jpg

2025-06-19 07:04:56 UTC

It's hot in the UK, currently in the ritual of closing windows/blinds to limit how much hot gets in, unfortunately houses are well insulated so while it's cool for a short period of time eventually the heat gets trapped and stays put...
Don't remember having to do this a few years ago #climatecrisis #ClimateCrisisIsNow

2025-06-08 11:48:45 UTC

It's the time of year when I get to be super #solarpunk - cutting back the vegetation that's starting to shade the #solar panels that run the solarcene server.
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/114/647/583/289/258/192/original/a2ddd9692edd5ca0.jpg

2025-05-11 11:06:40 UTC

#gardening #climate
It's been a while since we've had any proper rain here, and our #rain water storage is at about half, looks like it's going to be dry for another 2 weeks so hopefully after that we'll get a good amount of rain otherwise it's going to be 'challenging' summer.
Local farmers seemed pretty concerned about the lack of rain when I last chatted with them.

2025-04-05 10:11:18 UTC

Pots are out in my greenhouse, chillies are in the middle, some seeds of courgettes on the right, tomatoes on the left and also a random 2 pumpkins. Also my daughter's sunflowers she started to grow at school
#gardening
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/114/284/804/257/895/393/original/494665b99e60684b.jpg

2025-02-22 19:06:25 UTC

Today was a good day, the weather was warm, spent the morning out in a sculpture garden with the kids, had lunch out and then afternoon in the garden, weeded the raised beds, added a bit of compost, compost pile was full of worms which was good to see, moved some furniture and made a small little sitting nook which with the addition of some festoon lights will make a lovely spot for the summer evenings.
Also dodged having to move the solar panels when my partner started discussing adding a table and chairs to the garden and then the nook creation distracted the discussion.
#gardening
#springiscoming

2024-11-08 07:40:42 UTC

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Managed to come online for a few hours but still not enough sun and battery voltage dropped too low and the shutdown mechanism kicked in. Still very cloudy but forecasts suggest some sun today/tomorrow. Next time I can get it back online we'll go into super power save mode and will run the instance for 4hrs a day
But it highlights a challenge going forward with the #climateCrisis and #solarpunk thinking, looking at forecast (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/climate-change-in-the-uk) we are going to get wetter winters and I suspect more cloud cover, even with efficiency we still need an energy source and in the UK on a small scale #solar isn't going to be enough and sadly #wind isn't great on a small/personal scale
for the individual, family or small community might need some more thoughts

2024-11-05 22:27:08 UTC

Solarcene.community is offline as we've had solid clouds for over a week and the battery voltage has decreased down to the shutoff level.
I'm leaving it offline while I let the battery recover, will aim to power it back on tomorrow perhaps

2024-09-09 19:29:14 UTC

Can I have some #gardening #vegetables #tomatoes advice, we have got lots of tomatoes that are still green, 2 or 3 are starting to turn when I checked this evening.
The weather is forecast to go cold, from tomorrow we are looking at 4 days of nighttime lows of 5C.
What should we do? I've seen references to try and ripen them on the windowsill or can we cover the plants?

2024-08-14 16:45:35 UTC

How are peoples #potato crops this year?
I’ve not done as well as previous years and the quality has deteriorated (despite being a fresh raised bed), think I might take a break from potatoes next year
I was gifted some tomatoes and also found some bargain plants at a supermarket and they were doing pretty well which is nice!
#gardening