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AirGradient Forum

AirGradient + Solar Panel with a battery pack + meshtastic (lora) + no signal during night

#1

I wanted to say hello to everyone on this forum.
Currently owner of the inhouse v9 unit with Malloc’s magic onboard.
I’m thinking about adding the external unit but I dont want to drill holes in a rented appartment.
#1 That’s why i wanted to ask you guys if you maybe know a solar panel with a cells that it can charge that then we charge 1 or 2 usb devices → this should be enough for the external airgradient.

#2 The second question is there a way to ‘store’ data on the unit during the night time and push it to the system when back online? Call me a freak but i’m the guy who will turn off zigbee, wifi…and everything i can for the sleep time.

#3 I was also thinking that as airgradient wants to have a big network of nodes i could think of placing few…but guys it has to go via some mesh network like meshtastic. Then it makes sense.

#2

I use one of these in-use weatherproof outlet covers so I can keep a USB adapter plugged in outside and then the regular long USB cable to the Outdoor unit:
Commercial Electric 1-Gang Extra Duty Horizontal/Vertical Non-Metallic Weatherproof In-Use Cover (16-in-1-Configurations), Clear WCW1PC - The Home Depot

Neither the default Arudino nor my ESPHome configs are designed to store data locally and push it up later. It is possible it may be able to be programmed that way, but I don’t know how I would attempt it in ESPHome and it isn’t a priority for me. I have a router, switch, and 2 APs and they consume less than 29w so I have no problem leaving them on all the time.

I don’t know if having multiple units in the same yard is that helpful. Would be better to have units around town to compare with. I wouldn’t expect any type of official hardware to support a mesh network anytime soon. I don’t know what meshtastic is, so I may be misunderstanding what you are trying to accomplish.

#3

#meshtastic
Meshtastic is a mesh network based on lora. Open source, a very interesting project.

#turning off for night
I don’t have a problem with power consumption. I just believe (and I don’t expect you to agree with me) that it’s healthier to reduce the radio emission for the night time to get better body recovery.