SAFIERY UNIVERSITY
HIGHEST EFFICIENCY
SOLAR PANELS ON RV’s

 

This technical article is designed to give value to the reader knowledge on the Efficiency of Triple Insulated Flexible Solar Panels.   

Product Price includes the software:

This system does the following:

1. Sends you a SMS alert if the caravan or boat has a critical alarm from the SIMARINE system
2. Sends you an SMS if the carav or boat moves more than 25m radius from where you left it and after you turned on the GPS fence alarm.
3. Sends you a Google map location of where your caravan or boat is. (after you request it with SMS)
4. Uses a combo GPS and GSM Antenna.

 

 

SAFIERY UNIVERSITY
FAULTLESS WATER CAPACITY
CONSERVE AND MONITOR 

 

This article gives insight to getting the most into your water tanks and then monitoring them accurately to conserve water.

1. Getting the most water into your tank

• RV water tanks by their very nature have a large flat profile, particularly towards the top of the tank under the chassis/floor.

• The volume between the breather tube outlet, inside the tank, and the tank “inner roof” will be air and not water.

  

• Therefore the closer the breather tube to the top of the tank , the more water can be carrier inside.

• When filling the tank, if the caravan/camper is being filled with water and the breather tube is on the side closest to the ground, then you will get less water into the tank. Reversing this situation will get more water in.

2. Getting the most water out of your tank

• The drain position is also a factor in getting more out of the tank. The higher up the side of the tank, then more water is left inside.

3. Usable Capacity 

There can be significant differences between the theoretical capacity of a water tank and the usable capacity.

Determining the usable capacity is easy.

• Purchase a low cost water filling meter. (Bunnings have one for $60)

• Drain the water tank on level ground.
• Fill the tank and measure with the meter until the breather is overflowing just a little.
• Take the meter reading and subtract a litre of so for the breather tube volume and overflow.

Now you have the maximum usable capacity of your tank.

4. KNOWING THE AMOUNT OF WATER AVAILABLE IN LITRES

This is the hard one for most systems. The reason is:

• Level measurements are used that can be linear in a non-linear tank volume.
• Level sensors fail or give faulty readings
• There was no original calibration by the manufacturer and the tank reading are an estimate.

SIMARINE solves these problems in a simple and clever way using Artifical Intelligence.

There is No problem with the water volume remaining estimate in an unusually designed water tank.

For each change of water level sender point (if fixed measuring level points), you enter the volume of water change in litres against a calibration value.

Use one of the simple filler meters and enter the litres for each sender point.

• Watch the reading level jump when a sensor point is touched by the water
• Pick a similar interval change for the calibration if a variable analog sensor is used.
• Dont be concerned about having exact interval points on variable level senders (explained below). The system will do the smarts for you.

SIMARINE HAVE UP TO 11 CALIBRATION POINTS Between “full” and “empty” :

• 11 calibration points that can be added.
• View the list of calibration points for a tank and add new calibration points or remove existing ones.
• More calibration points will enable PICO to show tank level more accurately. 
• For each calibration point, tank fill volume and a corresponding sensor value (resistance or voltage) must be set.

SIMARINE then calculates the estimated volume change between each sender point and uses a unique change variable. 

SAVE SETTINGS ON YOUR PHONE

SIMARINE has a great feature of saving the settings to your smartphone. 

 

 

 

TANK LEVEL SENSORS – KEY to success!

• Sensors that have a constant output like pressure based level sensors or ultrasonic level sensors will give you the best resolution.

• Accurate level sensors using pressure signal
  – these are very compact: 304 Stainless body, 21mm dia and 24mm long
  – the are DIFFERENTIAL pressure sensors that compare the tank level “pressure” to the outside air “pressure”. Poorly designed product doesnt have this feature and will give false reading at altitude and changes in barometric pressure. All our sensors are differential. 

• • Install in one of 3 locations, always at the lowest point on the side of the tank:
    – drill and tap the drain bung, this is generally 3/4inch BSP and place the sensor in here. because of the flexible cable, you can generally remove the bung without having to remove the sensor.
    – drill and tap the side of the tank at a thick section generally in the corners and place the sensor in here.
    – add a T piece from the drain to tap section, position the sensor in the T branch at any orientation (like vertical).
     

• Ultrasonic sensors:
  – have a “dead band” when the tank is nearly full
  – can give a false reading if the model chosen is not matched to tank shape
  – can give a false reading when the tank is empty because of signal bounce.

• Plug or “arm” sensors have low resolution of 3-5 points.
  – calibration can still be useful and an improvement over the normal 4 LED tank guages
  – calibrate at the sensor change points for best results.
  – here is the interface module for these to simarine . It will support up to 3 tanks with the RV arms already fitted. Just wire from the RV srms to the interface module for up to 3 tanks. The interface module converts the resistance signals to the Simarine system.

 

SAFIERY UNIVERSITY
LITHIUM BATTERIES
MULTIPLE SETS IN PARALLEL AND SERIES HAS MAJOR ADVANTAGES.

 

This technical article is designed to give value to the reader through more knowledge on Lithium Batteries.   

SAFIERY University guides you in the application of monitoring and switching technology. We share 35 years engineering experience in energy monitoring and controls – and 15 years in off-road and boating.

 

SAFIERY UNIVERSITY
VOICE AUTOMATION
EASY AND CLEAR

 

This technical article is designed to give value to the reader through more knowledge on Voice Control for automation.   

VOICE CONTROL IS NATURAL.

Voice commands are 3-4 times faster than keying in requests or searching. Digital devices and assistants can now react reliably to voice commands. In this application, the controller just has to “understand Query” and the software will action. In the table below, resuts are now 100% with Google Assistant.

For this reason, we are using that platform.

Google assistant can operate on Apple smartphones and iPads as well as Android devices.

However, there is no need to learn keyboard and screen interfaces to control them.

Effective Voice control and AI needs direct access to all the data and control devices. This is where the technology for RV’s in particular has been lacking. 

 

 

Controlling water pumps, lights and heaters is done wirelessly. 

You do not need to have internet access for the AI to simplify your life. One of the bug bears of camping is the flood of insects at sunset. The system will automatically change the colour of the outside lights at sunset when they are turned on. The rest of the time, they will be white.

Voice control interfaces can be:

Small mushroom speaker.

Smart display of 8in or 10in screen/speaker combo. 

Apple iPhone or Android Phones or tablets

Smart watches and other wearable tech.

Making them controllable by voice eliminates the need for learning gestures or clicking through layers of menus to find the detail you want.

People are also getting used to controlling devices with voice, this means it no longer seems strange to talk to a computer. Voice will also give you secure access, as voice biometrics are being adopted as a security measure. And talking to a voice assistant doesn’t have to mean giving up all your privacy, with microphone mute buttons on every device and privacy assured.

A 2017 survey* found 72% of people who have smart home products want voice control. 

Millennials (ages 18-34) are leading the voice control trend. 58 % of Millennials have smart home products and devices that already have voice control features. Compare this to 50% of Gen Xers (ages 35-54) and 26% of Baby Boomers (ages 55+).

Survey respondents believe voice control provides a more intuitive user experience and practicality: The most commonly cited benefits for using voice control among respondents were hands-free control at 30%, increased user-friendliness at 17% and flexibility in location at 14%.

Google assistant lets you access your RV Systems with voice control. “turn on outside lights” “set outside lights as yellow colour” 

Step up to the smart display and see more information on the screen as you give voice commands. 

Watch YouTube videos, Netflix,  see the weather, and ask questions via “Ok Google”. 

 

 

 

The smart display is minimalist in design. 

Sit either horizontally or vertically, speaker included 

Each comes with 4GB of internal storage, a 5MP camera, dual microphones, and a 10W speaker.

Volume button, mic on/off switch, camera on/off switch.

Display is crystal clear: 8-inch screen is high definition (1280×800) while the 10-inch screen is full high definition at 1920×1200.

 

SAFIERY UNIVERSITY
SIZING ENERGY SYSTEMS
for RV’s (Boats follow)

120Ahrs quality Lithium Battery costs about the same as a quality solar system to produce 100Ahrs a day: 

• 100Ahrs a day requires 500W quality solar+ MPPT controller on caravan roof.
• 500W Lightweight Sunpower Solar plus MPPT controller is less than $2,000.
• 125Ahr good quality Lithium Battery is a little over $2,000.

1. SIZE YOUR SOLAR REQUIREMENTS FIRST

• You should have Solar in place to replenish the energy you use first;
• Even on a poor solar day, you will receive 20-30% energy from a good solar system.
• Purchase a portable system that can be directed to the sun as a backup.
   This adds energy when parked in the shade or on a poor solar day. Adding a 150W portable system will cost less than $600 and when angled to the sun is twice as efficient as the solar on your roof!

2. ASSESS HOW MUCH ENERGY YOU CONSUMER PER DAY

    From 15 years assessing and talking with caravan travellers:

• Frugal couples use 60 Ahrs/ day with a compressor fridge
• Moderate couples +1 use 80-100Ahrs/ day with compressor fridge
• Bold users consume 120Ahrs/day with compressor fridge and laptop charging

        If you have a 3 way gas fridge then take 40-50 Ahrs/day off this number.

3. Sizing for Lithium:

• Take your daily usage and multiply by 2 for 2 days requirement with zero solar;
• For Lithium, multiple this by 1.2 ) to allow for 80% depth of discharge);

     Examples

• Moderate user, gas fridge:
  90 – 50 = 40 Ahrs/Day; x 2 days = 80Ahrs;  x 1.2 =100 Ahrs
• Bold user, compressor fridge: 
  120 Ahrs/Day; x 2 days = 240Ahrs;  x 1.2 =268 Ahrs

4. Remember

• Round the sizing. The 264 Ahrs above could be matched with 250Ahrs.
• Solar will add significantly to the 2 days when available;
• Long drives will top your battery right up;
• Lithium absorbs the most solar energy because of high charging efficiency;
• The critical time point is 8am in the morning. Overnight the batteries have dropped in capacity with use and the solar is yet to kick in;
• If you want to stay for a week or more “off-grid”, then if the solar replenishment matches you daily usage, this sizing will give you a good overnight buffer.

SIZING ENERGY SYSTEMS FOR BOATS

1. Assess how much energy you consume per day.

    From several years assessing and working motor yachts:

• Frugal couples use 200 Ahrs/ day with one main fridge
• Bold users consume 400Ahrs/day+: Inverter with multi-media, laptop charging

2.  Sizing for Lithium:

     Assuming the genset is running till sunset…

• One Days consumption with give you capacity
• For Lithium, multiple this by 1.2 ) to allow for 80% depth of discharge);

 

Assuming there is no genset on your yacht and you reply on wind generator and/or solar. Follow the caravan guidelines above assessing your

• Solar capacity + Wind Generator +small outboard alternator if you have one.