Grid Connected Solar Power

Have had a bit of a break from my HA project as I was waiting for the building project to begin.

Its all starting to happen now - so i'll be working full steam ahead to finalise all the tech i'll be using to control the home. So expect more posts from me over the next 6 months :)

A new development for the project is the inclusion of a Solar Powered system.

With the recent increases in government rebates for solar power ($8k!), we've opted to go with a grid connected whole home solar power system through Origin Energy. They're the only utility company (in Victoria) offering 1-1 credits for any power pushed back into the grid.
Which means when we're generating more than we need during summer - we'll get a credit with the utility company, and be able to use this credit when the system isn't generating enough on cloudy winter days.
This also speeds up the break even substancially. So besides the warm and fuzzy we'll get from reducing our carbon emisssions - the long term cost savings make it also worth while financially .... Plus it makes good dinner party conversation.

It means there's a bunch of additional bits i'll need to organise, and more thought when selecting appliances and what to use gas or electricity for. So expect more "green" tech tips too :)

Bluetooth Proximity Prototype - XPL Application

With the success of the USBMicro Switch/PIR prototype - I thought I'd have a crack at also building an XPL Bluetooth proximity application. One which simply fires off triggers for any bluetooth device found in the area.

It's obviously a good way to work out who's at home, especially if it's mashed up with PIR detection - so thought it would be a good little experiment which I could also definately build into my HA project.

Being an old VB6 guy - I went on a google search mission to find an active-x object to do all the hard work. I already had a USB dongle I bought a year or so ago (another eBay cheapy)

I found a control built for transferring files over bluetooth called ActiveBlue2 - which unlike others, also allows visibility of unknown (unpaired) devices. There's a shareware version available which times out - but doesn't look like a trial key is required if you're simply searching for devices! Just means I can't actually release this app - so may have to look at alternatives so I can share the app/code (As the object license fee is around AU$300!). Feel free to drop me a line if you know of any free alternatives I can use (Active-X)

Anyway - It didn't take too long to build a quick app as a test which:

• stores a list of visible devices in memory (simply used a list control)
• polls the visible device list every 10 seconds and adds any new devices it finds to the list
• removes devices that are no longer in range
• fires off a xpl trigger message (used sensor.basic - device:input) for any new or removed item.

Works great! Only problem is my phone needs to be left in discoverable mode - which isn't ideal - as paired devices always show up as connected - even if they're not in range.

A possible workaround is to look at the last connected time and build in some configureable timeout functionality into the application. I'll get back to this if there's any interest (once I've finished the USBMicro XPL project)

USBMicro - XPL Application (Input)

After a visit to the local Electronics store to pick up some bits and pieces (been a very long while since I've touched a soldering iron!) I setup a basic circuit to wire a switch & a PIR (a cheapo eBay purchase too!) to the USBMicro board.


I used XPL VB6 Framework demo app - and mashed it with the demo USBMicro input app - and before I knew it - I had it broadcasting status changes over my network!

The current app works by polling the device every 500ms and if any changes are detected, sends the status for all ports on the device.

Other functions to add:

• Add code to only send status updates on the changed input - to reduce noise.
• Stick in some checks (like to make sure the USBMicro device is attached first would be useful! :) - and perhaps re-check periodically
• Allow the ability to set friendly names of each port in XPLHal (instead of device0>device16).
• Respond to status requests (so XPLHal can get initial status on startup)

Since this USBMicro also supports reading of 1-wire sensors, I may have a crack at wiring one up to this too - so I don't need to use the temperature sensor kit and obviously build the functionality into the XPL app as well.

May also find some other useful applications for this. I'm open to any suggestions on ways of utilising this device too - so drop me a comment on here if you come up with any.

USBMicro's Capabilities:

• 16 Digital inputs (ie. this project)
• 16 Digital Outputs (could use to control relays)
• Interface to SPI Devices
• Interface LCD Controllers
• Stepper Motor Control
• 1 Wire Sensors (temprature)

Anyway, all I can say is I really enjoyed getting this up and running! Was a good mashup of electronics & coding - which I haven't done either of for quite a while. It has gotten me thinking about other devices I have around that I can integrate into my XPL network. Perhaps something with bluetooth....

USBMicro - Digital I/O Device - Arrived

Got the USBMicro unit last week - and looks like it will be pretty easy to write up a little xpl app to read the inputs. (Comes with a DLL and loads of sample code).

Have already started working on it - just getting my head around it all as I haven't built any xpl apps before - but do have some VB6 experience (albiet quite a while ago) but have found loads of samples I can use as a base (nice work Ian Lowe) I'll just be building it to support the digital input side of things - as I'm going to use it to read in PIR/switches into XPLHal for my own HA project - but will share the code once I have it working - so that it could be improved upon to control external devices/relays etc.

The device looks damn useful - as it can also be used for 16 digital inputs or outputs, read 1 wire devices / stepper motors / spi / control LCDs / Relays and a bunch of other potentially useful stuff - so definately worth a looking into if you're looking for cheap but powerful way to get something connected.

Was under $50 australian (US$40) including worldwide shipping Got mine from here

Thin Client LCD Interface - Stage 1

Recieved the TC-10 I ordered last week - and have started having a play.

Arrived well packaged with wireless keyboard - but absolutely no instructions or drivers.

Took me around 5 minutes to work out how to turn it on too - which wasn't a good start! (the switch is a board mounted micro pushbutton which isn't labelled either!)

Visited their site, and downloaded alll the drivers required. didn't have a large Compact Flash card so purchased one off ebay ($20 for a 1 GB - more than enough to install a basic o/s)

I previously purchased an IDE>Compact flash adaptor - so simply used that and plugged it into my normal pc - booted off a 98 floppy (thanks to: http://www.bootdisk.com) fdisk'ed & formatted the CF card, transferred system, and copied the win98 setup files onto it (I knew my old 98 cd would come in handy one day!) & the lan/video/sound/touch drivers from EarthLCD's site.

Next mission was to get the TC-10 to boot off it.

Plugged in the CF - and booted it up.. No luck - got the old non system disk error.

After I while I worked out that it had an on board 32mb "disk on chip" which I had to disable (was set to the primary) in the BIOS, and also had to enable Dos support, and selected win95 as the operating system (never seen that before in a bios!)

Did the trick - Booted straight away, so installed win 98 (damn it looks dated), the drivers, and all was good!

Next step was to get a terminal services client up and running - first I tried was from my old Windows 2000 server - but the client doesn't do full screen or auto logging on - so after a quick google I found the updated client built for XP http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/tools/rdclientdl.mspx which works well in 98 - and allows settings to be saved as RDP config files!.. So now automatic connections are working

Stage 1 complete:

• I have a working touch controlled thin client (for under $700!)
• Boots straight into a remote desktop session
• Connects directly to my MCE box (as a test).

Stage 2

• Clean up the Thin Client OS (remove components I don't need)
• Create a custom boot/shutdown graphics ( so it doesn't look like Win98)
• Create a nice desktop image (As it takes a couple of seconds between booting up and connecting rdp)
• Hide desktop icons/start bar (again - to lose the Win98 "Feel " :P)

Stage 3

• Build the touchscreen UI (this will one take a while :o) )

Will keep you posted - and maybe get some photos up soon.