Solar Powered Computer

[TheJollyFellow]

I'm looking for a way to calculate the total power usage of my computer. I am putting together a solar-powered unit for my room that will power every component (Computer, boombox, clock, room fan, 4 lights) My computer is not on all day, hardly at all in fact (2-4hours) during the summer. My three room windows are perfectly aligned with the sun so that I could get 100% direct sunlight 7/10ths of the day (panel 100% exposed), and indirect sunlight (some shadows on the panel) the rest of the day. It would cost around $300-$400 upfront, but if my room costs $200 a year and my home-office can use some of the power too, it seems more than worth it to me. I have seen articles giving the approximate wattage usage of each component, but I want to know exactly how much. Does anyone have any ideas on how to find this? I know there is a meter to use, but where would I plug it in? If anyone knows of any software that would do this, that would be great too.
Once I start measuring and building, I'll post a guide of sorts for people who are interested in doing this too.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Seasonic has a product called the "Power Angel". It's fairly easy to use. If you take a look at it and can't figure out how to get it work, shame on you.

You could always check the specs of each product in your computer for the exact amperage on each rail that each product will consumer at peak.

 

[ElFenix]

by a kill-a-watt meter off amazon or ebay or home depot. plug it in between the wall and the power supply. it will tell you the draw of the computer.

 

[Zepper]

The Kill A Watt and the Power Angel are actually both the same meter - just with different packaging to fool the innocent. The KAW is always available for less - see my review here http://www.techimo.com/reviews/ in the Power Supply section. This will give you how many Watts AC it is using, to get Watts DC, you would have to multiply the AC Watts by the efficiency value (usually around 70%) for your PSU. That won't be 100% accurate, but will be in the ballpark.

.bh.

 

[furballi]

Connect an AC ammeter to the line input if you have a digital ammeter. Max current should not exceed 5A.

 

[CuriousMike]

Can we just short-circuit this and throw out guess-timates ?

Assuming the rig in his sig, and a 50w monitor, if the machine is on 24/7 for a year, the monitor goes into sleep mode 1/2 the time, what's it costing him in the USA ?

$50/ year ?

 

[TheJollyFellow]

My guess would be $50 for the computer and $150 dollars for the rest of the room, although it could easily be a lot higher; my room fan runs a lot in the summer and the lights, well, the lights are used.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: natewildes
I'm looking for a way to calculate the total power usage of my computer. I am putting together a solar-powered unit for my room that will power every component (Computer, boombox, clock, room fan, 4 lights) My computer is not on all day, hardly at all in fact (2-4hours) during the summer. My three room windows are perfectly aligned with the sun so that I could get 100% direct sunlight 7/10ths of the day (panel 100% exposed), and indirect sunlight (some shadows on the panel) the rest of the day. It would cost around $300-$400 upfront, but if my room costs $200 a year and my home-office can use some of the power too, it seems more than worth it to me. I have seen articles giving the approximate wattage usage of each component, but I want to know exactly how much. Does anyone have any ideas on how to find this? I know there is a meter to use, but where would I plug it in? If anyone knows of any software that would do this, that would be great too.
Once I start measuring and building, I'll post a guide of sorts for people who are interested in doing this too.

could you send me links about the solar stuff you have looked into? living in phx, az we get about 300+ days of sunlight every year(long days... usually not a cloud in the sky) and would love to tap into that

 

[TheJollyFellow]

Just google 'solar generator' and/or 'small solar panels' and a bunch of sites there have some cool projects and ideas. 2 sites I found most interesting:
http://store.sundancesolar.com/
http://www.rain.org/~philfear/how2solar.html
There are lots of sites with regular panels, the prices vary so much (they usually go up) that recycled/refurbished panels are the cheapest. Anyone is welcome to PM me with any questions, stupid or not.

 

[bob4432]

thanks

 

[Zebo]

Seems pretty silly to me.. you could build a comp with 1/3 the power and when amortized over time will still be cheaper than whatever solar you got into.

e.g.
-5400 rpm laptop drive uses 7W vs. 22W for a 7200rpm desktop drive
- Pentium M uses 25W vs 38W for a venice
- use DDR2 memory
-use a LCD with TN technolgy

etc etc etc


In other words just buy a laptop from dell.

To power a prescott you'd need 2x $600 4x8 DOW PV panels

 

[Dubb]

I spec'ed a system once, intended to power a fairly robust computer for 8 hours a day (battery system for stoarage), entirely off DC. the thing with solar is all the panels are DC, so going dc>ac>dc is just plain stupid.

in short: it took one $800 panel (and that was cutting it close), a $600 battery system and $500 in misc. circuitry (do you really want sketchy voltages running your comp?)

so yeah, it's pretty stoopid.

However, one thing you could do easy/cheap is fans - a couple supplementary fans, and the best part is, they speed up when it's hotter (more sun), and quiet down when it's cooler. Nature as a fan control...you can do this with house vent fans as well.