ARDUINO, centralina autoconsumo PENELOPE in KIT https://youtu.

be/F3L1oza4PT0

Arduino PENELOPE KIT, monitoring and self-consumption ARDUINO, PENELOPE self-

"Give me a point of support and I will raise the world" It is a famous phrase of a
famous genius, but also for Arduino.
In fact, Arduino reduces - and very much - the hardware part and allows designers to
focus on the software part of the so-called artificial intelligence.
These considerations are certainly valid for the Penelope control unit, which is very
small in the hardware part, for cost and reliability.
PENELOPE is a control unit born more than two years ago as a self-contained
photovoltaic control unit and has been very successful.
It is characterized by great reliability and has a very low cost.
The secret of this success is simplicity. Simplicity of what you see, that is,
hardware, really content, indeed amazing, that is Arduino, 4 resistances, 1 display and
a line of wires and connectors all on a millefori base. Other is the speech for the
software, which is very elaborate, but also cheap. More: Absolutely free in the basic
version.
PENELOPE, as it was said, was designed for self-consumption and reveals all its
modernity and efficiency with respect to another detail: unlike what it does, it uses
digital counters as a probe. Therefore, Penelope captures the digital counter pulses,
processes them and transforms them into video information for the user who wants to
know about its consumption and about the production of the photovoltaic system. In
addition to the monitoring function, you can use the energy surplus for useful
consumption, such as boiler, water heater, stoves etc. And it makes it momentary in
time and fractionally, thanks to the PWM outputs. But we will say that.
In fact, PENELOPE can do many other things, such as recording data on SD card (next
video) and elaborations in the highly developed, home automation industry.
The merit is all about Arduino that, in this project, it is used in fact exploited for
all its possibilities.
It is placed inside a 6-pack DIN container and has a series of connectors with the
outside. The calculations depend heavily on the inventive and programmer's capacity and
are proposed on the 2 x 16 display.
Therefore Penelope can really be the basis for elaborations that go far beyond the
original design, with few hardware changes. The fundamental role is assigned to
software that can be reworked from a proven base.
This version of Penelope in kit is very simple, Arduino is placed on a millefori,
inside a box of 6 DIN rail tracks.
This box was purchased by EBM store. It is suitable for use with Arduino, but some of
the work is done, but it is very simple if you look closely at the photos of this
video, taking advantage of the still image.
We started with a large 160 x 230 mm millefors card purchased by C.S. Faenza
Electronics. Four bases of 79 x 88 mm (see photo) have been obtained and there remains
a cutout that can be useful for other designs.
2 poles for PCBs on one side and 2 3-pole terminals on the other side are to be placed
on this base. These clamps of green color are easy to find. I personally prefer the
white ones sold by "Forks" by Radioforniture di Forlì because they fit perfectly into
the box without needing to enlarge the seat (see photo), what is needed with the green
clamps.
The clamps should be inserted into the millefors after enlarging with a drill and a 1
mm tip the seat. In the photo you can see 6 holes on the right, starting from the third
on the right, and 4 holes left, starting from the fourth millefori hole on the left
(see photo).
Arduino's position on the base should be concreted with 2 male connectors of 3 elements
each. These connectors should be made from a longer rod. The following picture has been
marked with row and column the points in the millefori where these connectors are to be
inserted. The intersection point refers to the central pin of each connector. You need
to locate the point by observing carefully the number of holes in the base.
They have to be placed respectively at the end of the row of Arduino analog connectors
and at the end of the voltage connector, both on the left side.
They have to be fitted with the short side on the millefori and the long one on the
Arduino board.
So far we have not made welds, because we want to first insert the 4 resistors. It may
seem simple but, to avoid mistake, you must always understand the function of these
resistances that are used to capture the impulses of digital counters. See electric
diagram.
The 100 ohm resistance must be plugged into the connector to which the cable from the
positive of the digital output of the meter will be connected. The 39k resistance is
inserted on the connector to which the cable from the SO output of the digital counter
will be connected.
It happens that when the digital counter pulse hits the 39k resistor, there will be a
positive voltage of some volt, compared to the near-zero voltage when there is no
pulse.
In digital counters, the pulse lasts for about 50 milliseconds and thinks the software
intercepts it with 90,000 checks per second and a 100 millisecond stop every time the
pulse is intercepted.
Paradoxically it has been found that it is easier to intercept the pulse with the
analog inputs than with the digital ones of Arduino; The reason is that the various
digital counters on the market have not always uniform characteristics about the
duration and intensity of the pulse.
The signal is retrieved with a cable (white color in the photo) and sent to the
analogue pins of Arduino A1 and A2, respectively for the first photovoltaic production
and for the second consumption. This information is available in the Arduino
"Penelope_2_Plus" sketch, which is distributed free of charge.
There are only 4 resistors on the base but the arrangement is critical. See photos. In
essence, the two 39k resistors on one side go to ground and on the other side at the
front at the connectors 1 and 3, while the 100 ohm resistors on one side go to the 5
volt positive and the other end is inserted In the hole corresponding to connectors 2
and 4, respectively. On the back of the millefori you will have this situation (see
photo).
The two white wires should be placed in a hole next to the connectors 1 and 3. The
welding on the back appears as pictured.
At this point the red and black wires can be soldered, respectively by the 100 ohm
resistance side and 39k resistors.
The white wires must be connected to the pins A1 and A2 of Arduino. Black, ground
cable, Arduino's GND, and red lead, 5 volt positive, to a 5 volt Arduino socket. See
the photo.
At this point we can make links to the 3 Arduino PWM outputs. We start with the ground
connections with 15 mm black wires of pin 5,7 and 9 connectors.
These must be connected to the ground (that of the 39k resistors) with a black cable.
Be careful not to interfere with a box head when inserting the base.
Now we can insert the yellow, green and blue wires (in the picture) of the PWM outputs
to the external terminals 6, 8, 10 respectively. On the Arduino side will be connected
to the 6.9 and 10 digital pins, in relation to the software used.
At this point we can connect the serial display. It has 4 wires with indicated GND,
VCC, SDA and SCL, in order. These cables must be connected to Arduino in a GND pin
first, 5V positive one, and the other 2 to pin A4 and A5 (see photo).
Now you need to load the Arduino "Penelope_2_plus.ino" software.
If there are no problems, the display should show some information (as with a photo),
but rarely happens at the first shot: you need to adjust the contrast with a small
screwdriver. If a single white line appears, the display does not receive the signal
correctly. Verify that the cables A5 and A5 have the A5 cable connected to the display
on the outside (SCL). If we are not yet, it means that the serial display needs a
different software setup, in fact there are different models on the market with the
integrated of several brands. In this regard, the software provides 2 options for
serial displays, to cover most of those available on the market. Cancel with 2 bars the
software line with the option that does not work.
I guess at this point you are anxious to connect the controller to the digital
counters, but it's best to fix it first in its offices. About holes for USB plug and
Arduino power supply, you can use a hacksaw and then a pair of pliers to unplug the
workpiece as per photo, but then you also need to fine-tune the holes, measure, with a
file.
The hole for the display is not too critical, but it is worth doing a precision job
trying to center the display and have very close edges. Keep in mind that the serial
port connector side needs extra space. Also, keep in mind that the display, when the
control unit is mounted on the din rail, must show readable, non-inverted indications.
The top of the serial display sockets are to the left.
To center the display hole it is good to use a mask, built around the display. The hole
can be made with a 3 mm drill bit used as a cutter, after securing the box to a rigid
table with a vice. It also needs a firm arm and a bit of patience.
The hole is refined with the large triangular file and then with the rectangular end,
trying to insert a test (broken) display. After a half hour, thanks to so many small
adjustments, the hole is perfect and the serial display is pressurized, in a very solid
way.
At this point, just put the screws and insert the Penelope control unit into the
appropriate DIN rail for testing.
After inserting the cables coming from the digital counters, in the right positions, ie
SO- and SO + from the left, and inserting the 9 volt power supply, Penelope worked at
the first shot, highlighting the data. In fact, the display shows the consumption of my
home and the production of my photovoltaic plant (see photo). PWM outputs are not used.
It's 19 o'clock on June 23rd.
The Penelope control box just left the factory is missing only the billboards. Easy
not? So easy that the Penelope control unit has been copied from so many and works in
the homes of many Italians.
But now we have to talk about software. Very interesting, but it takes a separate
video. Next episode.