Build
Let The Build Commence
The date is the 5th of February 2022 and It’s cold. It’s really cold. Luckily for me my friend Will offered to help with the build. We had 48 hours to do so before getting back to work in Oxford on the Monday! So please excuse the messy wiring, we really didn’t have much time or daylight!
The Greenhouse!
The greenhouse is actually a conservatory tacked onto the side of the “old house” as we call it which is a 4x4m building that my grandparents lived in for many years before building their house across the road. This 4x4m building contained a kitchen, toilet, fireplace, and a bed. A reminder of how privileged I am to be living in the current age. Fortunately for me, this building is now free range for projects and the fact that this project revolves around plants, well, I think my grandfather would approve. To the right is one of my grandfathers original greenhouses where he used to light methylated spirit burners in the winter to keep his plants warm. I’m doing the same, except using renewable resources but costing at least 100 times more…
Inside we can see the solar panels and the original tile flooring from the previous outbuilding.
These are the batteries I bought with the panels. 4kWh of chemical power!
Before assembling the solar array a quick wash from Will’s window cleaning services.
2x4 wooden frame to keep the panels off the ground as my dads one and only rule for having the panels was that he could mow the grass with ease.
My first time drilling through a wall. I wish I had removed the plants before doing this as they ended up covered in dust and needed their own solar panels cleaning…
Here we have the 6mm cable from the solar panels coming in on the top left into the breaker and then into the charge controller. A Raspberry pi is the brains of the operation with an Arduino for analog sensors. In the bottom right is a custom relay board for controller 24V/16A loads each with their own breaker.
A heated seed tray that operates off mains which means.. An inverter is needed. In the foreground you can see many a kiwi plant grown from seed. I am aware that they will probably not be true to taste but still, it’s a bit of fun! In between are my Avocado trees. These have been living in my parents utility room with very little light and were on the verge of death. Last summer my brother and I decided to repot them and put them in this newly built greenhouse! They are now flourishing! One day they might flower and if I’m very lucky I’ll have a male and a female plant! UK avocados anyone?
