Of course, it’s best to improve power on a large scale – such as implementing renewable energy in your community or city – rather than solving everything on an individual level. But there are plenty of options to make small projects more resilient and less power-hungry.
- Sources:
- Solar power?
- Wind power?
- Crank power?
- Battery reclamation:
- Joule Thief circuit: Drive low-drain projects from a "dead" AA/AAA or CR2032 battery
- Relaimed rechargeable batteries (from disposable/broken vapes, etc.):
- Better batteries:
- LiFePO4: Less-harmful batteries, with fewer conflict minerals (as seen in the MNT Reform laptop)
- The MNT Reform laptop uses 18650 batteries, rather than proprietary or laptop-specific batteries. These are easy to source, and they provide an iFixit guide for replacement as well!
- Replaceable batteries extend the life of each product
- Lithium battery recycling is becoming an option – good to look into if you plan on using this type of batteries. Use this search engine to find a local option.
- Sleep modes:
- Many microcontrollers have a built-in sleep or low-power mode capability. It’s worth asking others if you don’t know enough about software to use these capabilities.
- Time on grid:
- Energy Upgrade California: "From 4 to 9PM, energy demand is high, and less wind and solar power is available. By using less electricity during these hours, you can ensure that your energy is coming from cleaner sources."
- What are your community power options? Can you design or program your product to optimize energy usage around specific times of day, or availability of sustainable energy sources?
- Charge during off-hours, then run off the battery during peak usage hours?