A few moons ago I built a BalenaOS deployed set of Enviro+ air quality sensors for my Raspberry Pi Zero. It’s been sitting indoors monitoring our air for a while, waiting for me to build an environment proof case and solar for it so I could deploy it outside.
Parts
- Raspberry Pi Zero W
- Enviro+ hat with PMS5003 particulate sensor
- Adafruit LC709203F Battery Monitor
- Voltaic Systems 6volt 6Watt solar panel
- Adafruit Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger
- 2 recycled batteries from a Lenovo ThinkPad battery
Code
Having some annual leave to burn gave me some time to think through the brackets between the solar panel and the waterproof case, and over coffee this morning I realised I could keep it super simple and use strips of a plastic milk carton to connect the two.
I’m hoping the solar panel will provide enough water cover for the sensors in light rain, but time will tell.
I suspect I might also need to buy a bigger solar panel and a couple more batteries for it to survive the winter months. I’ll post the data shortly.