Battery and solar panel for blinds

#1

Have you considered using a battery and solar panel for the blinds kit? Or does the Wifi use too much power?

#2

Yes I have considered it and will be looking into it in the future.

#3

Hey Matt, have you looked any more into a battery/solar panel option for the blinds? I have actually ordered a couple different options and will be playing around once they get here. I really have no idea what kind of current draw the servos pull, as well as the constant wifi connection but its got to be possible? Mysmartblinds.com doesn’t seem to have the specifics of their solar panel/battery listed anywhere.

#4

Just to add some information on this topic as I am not sure if Matt has had time to test any battery/solar options yet. I have been running one blind off a 4.0aH Dewalt cordless drill battery fitted with a USB power adapter for charging a phone, etc. It has been running smoothly for nearly a week, opening in the morning, closing in the evening as well as a ton of open/closes during the day to show family/friends/guests of my handywork. The LED charge meter on the battery still says it has a full charge so (once I get my OpenHab Server back up and running) I will keep testing until the battery dies. I wasn’t expecting to get nearly this kind of time considering the wifi is connected 24-7 and was expecting that to be a major power drain. Worst case scenario here will probably be needing to charge the battery monthly which would still be an inconvenience so my next step is to add a solar panel to slowly trickle charge the battery to avoid manual charging all together. I will then eventually source a battery that will fit inside the remaining space in the blind housing, or an all-in-one unit battery/solar panel combo that will suction cup or two-side tape to the window and be as aesthetically pleasing as possible. I’ve already got my long cold Canadian winter planned out, indoors. :+1:

#5

MySmartBlinds battery specs:

Battery type: LIFePo4
Rating: 3.2V DC
Capacity: 3000mAh
Max Charge Current: 500mA
Max Discharge Current: 2A

Hope this helps

#6

Hi Fresh_City, Any progress in this area ? I’ve found some low voltage solar cells on Amazon that also have battery cells to look into.

Did you finally get your solar cell panels and test them out ? If so, can you post an update ?

#7

Here’s one I’ve been testing for a couple of months.

it works pretty well the only problem I’ve been having is the on cloudy days the esp drains the battery too fast and the solar panel can not produce enough power to charge the battery and run the esp.

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