E ink (additionally known as ePaper) shows appear virtually magical, as a result of they solely require energy when refreshing the content material of the display screen. In the event that they’re exhibiting a static picture, they don’t draw any energy in any respect. Mix that with unimaginable distinction and the know-how may be very fascinating for sure purposes—notably low-power gadgets that don’t replace typically. That made an E Ink display screen the right selection for Ricardo Sappia’s solar-powered climate station.
E Ink screens have two main disadvantages. The primary is that they’re sluggish to refresh, with some fashions taking a second or longer to replace your entire display screen. The second is that almost all fashions are monochrome. There are some that may show a handful of colours, however they’ve even slower refresh charges than their black-and-white cousins. On this case, neither of these disadvantages are sensible considerations. This machine shows detailed details about the day’s climate circumstances and that info doesn’t want to vary typically. The one exception is the clock within the nook that should replace as soon as per minute, however that solely requires a partial refresh.
As a result of Sappia selected an E Ink display screen, this climate station consumes little or no energy and so it will possibly get all the power it wants from the solar. Sappia designed the machine to take a seat towards a window the place a small photo voltaic panel on the again of the enclosure can obtain good publicity to daylight. Throughout daylight, that recharges a small LiPo battery that retains the machine going by way of the night time. An ESP32 growth board pulls climate info from the web and reveals that on the E Ink display screen, going right into a power-saving deep sleep mode between updates.
This specific E Ink show is a 2.13” tri-color mannequin from Wemos with a decision of 250×122. It may show white, black, and pink pixels. Sappia designed a complete GUI that shows the time, date, moon state, dawn time, sundown time, temperature highs and lows all through the day, wind pace and route, and cloud cowl circumstances. Most of that’s black and white, however Sappia used pink in a number of locations (corresponding to to symbolize the solar).
All of these parts slot in a tidy 3D-printed enclosure that Sappia can place on a window body.
