Does the solar panel on the rain collector (ISS) need to be in direct sunlight? I currently have mine in the back yard (north side of the house) and it is in shade for probably the entire day. Is there enough sunlight and what is exactly being powered by the solar panel? There is a 3v lithium battery installed. Does the ISS use the solar when it can and the battery at night?
Btw, I’ve noticed a few things comparing this to my LaCrosse 2310… The Davis barometer is consistantly .30 inches higher than the 2310. Rain measures more and I believe that is because the Davis is more precise. Example, .14 rain for the 2310 and .18 rain for the Davis. The sensors are about 30’ apart so I don’t think that is a factor. Still using the wind from the 2310 until I get the remote transmitter for the Davis.
The ISS manual goes into some detail about this, but…
The solar panel charges a capacitor on the Sensor Interface Module (SIM) which normally runs the instruments and transmitter. According to the manual, the ISS will run for 8 months with no sunlight, and some two years with “normal” charging. In over three years of using a VP Classic, I’ve been replacing the battery about once a year and that cycle seems to keep my reception higher; the station gets a decent amount of sunlight for charging.
So, seems to me you’re best off having as much direct sunlight exposure as possible to maximize efficiency, but seems like you could expect to get at least 6 months off the battery with at least some sunlight exposure. If there’s a chance to orient the panel to improve sunlight exposure or perhaps raise it, I think you’ll be happier. If you have it located where it is in order to moderate temperature readings, I think you’d find that the passive radiation shields do a really good job of keeping temperatures accurate, and you might have an overall better experience having the solar panel getting a lot of sun and relying on the shields to moderate temperature readings. The fan aspirated shield does an even better job, of course, but takes a much bigger current draw.
If you are expecting it to run off the capacitor I would expect some sunlight to hit the solar panel. Or unless it is a problem , could use a bunch of mirrors to beam the light to the solar panel, even a metal tube to direct it down to the panel. The down side, probably a stray reflection could blind a driver, but that would give you a side business of auto body repair.
I agree that you might be able to run it off of batteries. CR123 are not that expensive and for less than 10 ducks you could use that approach until something else comes by. I suppose there are trade offs both sides here.
[quote author=Robert link=topic=6613.msg43998#msg43998 date=1102942734]
Does the solar panel on the rain collector (ISS) need to be in direct sunlight?
It’s more than likely the supercap has gone on the ISS board.
You can get spares but if the station isn’t that old then have a word with MacMurdo in Portsmouth as they may fix it under warranty.
