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Acurite Weather Station Solar Charger

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hengy

New Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2022
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Tried this in beginners section, no answer. Sorry but will repost here.

i have an Acurite Iris weather station that runs off of 4 AA Alkaline or Lithium batteries. I'd like to use something like the Adafruit Universal USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger - bq24074 with a rechargeable battery set. I would use possibly a 2 watt 6 volt solar panel. Am I going in the right direction for this? Temperature varies from 90 degrees to -10 degrees F. From what I understand, the Adafruit device would charge the battery when there is sun and then use the battery when there is not.
 
hengy said:
Tried this in beginners section, no answer. Sorry but will repost here.

i have an Acurite Iris weather station that runs off of 4 AA Alkaline or Lithium batteries. I'd like to use something like the Adafruit Universal USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger - bq24074 with a rechargeable battery set. I would use possibly a 2 watt 6 volt solar panel. Am I going in the right direction for this? Temperature varies from 90 degrees to -10 degrees F. From what I understand, the Adafruit device would charge the battery when there is sun and then use the battery when there is not.
Click to expand...
hello,

the general concept makes sense. i'm not sure about all the details yet but it sounds like the right direction in general to convert it to solar charging station
 
jasonhc73 said:
What does that do for 6 times the cost?!?!?!?
Click to expand...
It looks cool! :)
Friend has been through two Accurites and one other cheaper one while the Davis is still running. ie. they last
Parts to repair if needed are avail.
Models do not change every season (see parts above), meaning it is not a chuck it device when a part goes bad.
Slew of various sensors (leaf, soil temp, soil moisture)
Radiation shields.
Most accurate unit out.
NIST traceable
NOAA recognizes the unit.

Made in the USA.

There are others but I am no expert on the thing. I have two and the cabled version has been running 20+ years trouble free.
 
MrThisIsME said:
Even better is my baby here. :)
Click to expand...
For 20x the price it had better be better! ?
WDB said:
Probably lasts six times as long for one.
Click to expand...
So far mine has been operating for 3 years straight, not one issue yet. This and the Davis Instruments 6163 are about the only ones I have found that offer the Solar W/M² feature.

When I was shopping for a weather station, I was considering adding a wind turbine to my location. However, after measuring the actual wind my location just isn't good enough to go with one.
 
jasonhc73 said:
For 20x the price it had better be better! ?

So far mine has been operating for 3 years straight, not one issue yet. This and the Davis Instruments 6163 are about the only ones I have found that offer the Solar W/M² feature.

When I was shopping for a weather station, I was considering adding a wind turbine to my location. However, after measuring the actual wind my location just isn't good enough to go with one.
Click to expand...
My Davis Vantage Pro 2 is 13 years old now, I previously used cheaper brands and never got more than a year or two out of them before they stopped working. I also like that you can repair a Davis station if something does go wrong. My cheaper stations were also not as accurate and the data update intervals were longer apart.
 
While the Acurite station has its perks, have you heard of the kestrelmet 6000 weather station? It's a game-changer, taking precision weather monitoring to a whole new level.

As for the solar charger, I think it's a fantastic way to keep your station running smoothly without relying on batteries. It's like killing two birds with one stone—saving the planet and keeping your devices juiced up!

In terms of your question about reliability, it seems like a well-set system could work wonders, especially if your location gets ample sunlight. I’m curious to hear what others think about using solar power for weather stations.
 
Last edited:
You might want to consider just using non-rechargeable Li batts. That is what I do in my weather station (also an Ambient Weather model with a small PV cell built in). Still on my first set of Li AA batteries going on 3 years. They probably won't last as long if you don't have PV helping out, but even in my outside temp sensors without any PV, these batts last 2+ years.
 
MrThisIsME said:
It looks cool! :)
Friend has been through two Accurites and one other cheaper one while the Davis is still running. ie. they last
Parts to repair if needed are avail.
Models do not change every season (see parts above), meaning it is not a chuck it device when a part goes bad.
Slew of various sensors (leaf, soil temp, soil moisture)
Radiation shields.
Most accurate unit out.
NIST traceable
NOAA recognizes the unit.

Made in the USA.

There are others but I am no expert on the thing. I have two and the cabled version has been running 20+ years trouble free.
Click to expand...
My davis station has been up on the mast for 15 years, well, lightning blew the early one up so this one is 12 years old. I have had to change the sub-c batteries in the fan asperated section twice.
 
My little acu-rite is 8 years old, was a Xmas gift. It lasted 5 years on 4 energizer lithiums, then 2 years on regular cheaper alkalines, last fall just tossed another 4 lithiums into it and will forget about it for another 5 years.

It does have a solar panel on it 2x2”?, and when the suns out I can hear a fan running on it.

If it died tomorrow id prob source a Davis just cause.
 
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