In this course, you'll learn how to create a solar-powered weather station. The weather station consists of an ESP32 with a temperature and humidity sensor. And it can easily be extended with more sensors.
The ESP32 creates a local web page that displays the temperature and humidity. The web page can be opened from any device connected to the same WiFi network.
What You'll Need
- Solar Panel of 18V
- 5V DC-DC Buck Step Down Module that supports up to 24V input (for example this)
- USB Power Bank (with USB cable)
- ESP32 Module (with USB cable)
- DHT11 Temperature and humidity sensor [Datasheet]
- Small prototyping board with islands (for example this)
- 10 kΩ Resistor
- Header Pin Row (with 3 pins)
- Jumper Wires (female-to-female)
- Small Plastic Box (optional)
Tools
- Soldering Iron
Overview of the Project
In this project, the ESP32 board will be powered by a USB power bank. The USB power bank will be charged by the solar panel (through a buck converter that converts the voltage to 5V):
The solar panel charges the power bank. It's connected through the buck converter to reduce the voltage from around 18V to 5V. This is the voltage needed to charge the power bank.