DIY #mothtrap proof-of-concept.

Yes, those are #ultraviolet #LEDs.
Yes, that’s a light sensor on the right.
No, I’m not happy with the #leadacid #battery but they’re cheap, reliable and ideal for these experiments.

Now to find an enclosure… 🤔

#moths #mothtrapping #mothtrappinguk #electronics #experiment @savebutterflies@mastodonapp.uk

@energisch_ @wmd @jon It is a #FireSafety thing:

• Unless #FAA & #EASA exempt #LiFePO4 chances are they'll continue with that rule...

The only exemptions they do - for #LeadAcid, #LithiumBatteries and even #CombustionEngines with #Fuel - are (motorized) #Wheelchairs, tho said users face a whole stack of even worse #discrimination, as I'm shure @RaulKrauthausen et. al. can tell from personal experience.

@CelloMomOnCars @falcennial @pixelpusher220 Shure, the overhead of a #FuelCell will not.make.it.practical in a #Smartphone for the foreseeable future, and #SodiumWetcells are slowly entrenching #LiFePO4 cells territory.

I do however expect that for #EnvoirmentalProtection alone, we'll see #Lithium cells being slowly phased out in a few decades like #NiCd, #mercury and #lead before them.

• The only reason #LeadAcid wetcells are still used as #CarBattery is because they are disgustingly cheap and can provide high amperages for starter motors. Their weight inefficiency is not of big concern in cars.

Likewise I'm confident we see first #LiFePO4 then #SodiumWetcells then #FuelCells take over.

• On the flipside, I hope we'll see more #BatterySwap systems that'll use standardized #LiFePO4 cells (maybe not a giant stack of 21700's on cars, but on #eBikes and maybe 14500's #MobileDevices) which could solve the #charging speed problem.

In fact I'm confident #MethanolFuelcell will be used as drop-in replacement for (diesel-)electric buses simply because of scalability and fire safety alone.

• OFC the superior solution for regular bus lines are trolley buses, but being able to refuel on long-distance trips will certainly help conversion with long-haul bus services and #trucking beyond the "last-mile stop & go" delivery where drivers have their 8hr shifts and trucks can "slow-charge" at the depot at night.

In fact, #DeutschePost literally bought up an #electric #MiniTrick #startup just to get the "#CityScooter" #BEV|s made for them, and for couriers that only do stop & go these work fine.

@Yuki Likely...

The "Saltwater" Wetcells will likely replace from bottom up #LeadAcid and #LiFePO4 as like batteries for devices and anything above like a laptop will likely use like #Methanol #FuelCells if off-grid, which is just a more convenient to handle, store and exchange means to have #Hydrogen for a #FuelCell [in fact most high-output cells basically use a RMFC and use the Methanol to generate hydrogen-rich steam and vapour...

• Personally I think a real "#Warthog" from #Halo would be such a fuelcell-electric car as that would be totally feasible with todays's tech and just chugging in a jerry-can of Methanol or refueling a liquid is way easier than swapping #batteries and also faster...

OFC for #Trucks [we already see}( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg ) #Trolleybus-Style wiring solutions and I could imagine that long-term we'd see this resulting in "rail-road-hybrid" cars and for the typical "#LastMileDelivery" #electrification makes sense given the efficiency of electric drivetrains in urban stop & go as well as low-speed scenarios where torque is more important than RPM...

@lenzgr also #SodiumBatteries or rather #SaltwaterCells are not only going to beat #Lithium in terms of #pricing but also are way less hazardous and energy intensive to manufacture..

• And whilst they don't compete with #LiFePO4 or #LiIon / #LiCo / #LiPo cells in terms of #EnergyDensity they'll certainly replace #LeadAcid for stationary #UPS-alike applications.

Not to mention they'd really make sense next to rectifiers for #OffshoreWind, #PV / #Solar and other #RenewableEnergy sources where they could buffer away peaks and fluctuations as well as increase total output on average...

• Only better would be the even more scalable #MethanolFuelcell-based systems which in return could also replace #Diesel for #Emergency #Generators as #Methanol is almost as easy to store longterm and safetywise is even easier to handle than Racing #Gasoline.

New battery hooked up, and no, its permanent place is not on top of the server. It's actually right behind it.

I drew it down a little bit before hooking it up, just to give it a single discharge and charge cycle. I questioned the accuracy of this meter, but it's not bad as a sanity check. The current jumped around a little bit and is reading about 0.4 amps, but I think it's supposed to be about 0.5 amps. The voltage before I connected it was 12.37 volts.

#battery #LeadAcid #UPS

@landley Granted, #Sodium or rather #Saltwater batteries are great because whilst their energy density is on par with #LeadAcid in the best cases, they are so cheap and scalable and don't need #UnfairTrade minerals (aside from like copper wiring but that's nevessary with any battery system of any capacity beyond a laptop battery!).

And they are cheap to build and easy to recycle, so even if they merely last as long as #LiFePO4 cells or half of that, they can work out.

Personally I do prefer #Methanol #FuelCell as that's also a good drop-in replacement for #Diesel-based emergency generators and has the handling advantages of being a longterm-storeable fuel which is not an envoirmental hazard and side from being flammable and poisonons when ingested, is quite safe, but I do think Saltwater-Wetcells are going to domimate the market by being so absurdly cheap to mass-produce at scale that they'll make even Zinc-Coal - Batteries look expensive...

I have a spare #solar charge controller laying about and some #LeadAcid #batteries. I think it's about time I made a battery backed 12 V bus instead of relying on one 48 V DC-DC