Knut Hühne

Knut is a web developer and enjoys writing software to help people solve their problems. He got involved with Freifunk a couple of years ago and helped develop software to make it easier for people to join. He is building the user interface and frontend for ISEMS. When he is not working on community networks he is involved in the Open Data movement.

Presenting with Elektra Wagenrad

ISEMS - Making Solar Powered Mesh Networks Easy

We would like to present the Independent Solar Energy Mesh System (ISEMS). Our system is deemed to make it easier for non-experts to build, monitor and manage their own wireless communication infrastructure, independent of the power grid. The project helps community (mesh) network users to operate and manage independent network nodes in hard-to-reach locations using solar energy.

ISEMS nodes consist of an energy-efficient mesh router, a solar panel, rechargeable batteries and a Freifunk OpenMPTT charge controller, the heart of the ISEMS project. Routers and MPPT charge controller communicate with each other. ISEMS monitors battery level, battery temperature, solar module energy data. It manages energy harvesting and power saving strategies.

With the ISEMS software users can connect to the local wifi and get an easy understanding about how their network is doing. The web-app shows them an overview of all their nodes as well as a checklist for the individual nodes. If something requires attention it advises users and provides next steps that they could take for troubleshooting.

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