One of my projects over the last year has been to build a “green” server. The idea is that I can have an always-on file server and wireless network access point that relies 100% on solar energy.

Solar

I started by building a solar panel and battery charge system using a sealed 12 V deep-cycle battery. It’s one heavy sucker! I connected a Xantrex C35 Charge-Load controller to it, and then connected that via a long, heavy-duty electrical wire to a 60-watt solar panel outside our back door.

Solar

Finally, I have a 2000 watt Maxx SST power inverter that converts the 12 V power to 110 V AC (i.e. like a wall-socket). The total cost for the system came to about $500. It’s probably even cheaper now, since prices for solar components have been dropping.

Yesterday, I re-assembled all of the parts and mounted them to our office desk so that they aren’t lying all over the room. I’m pretty happy with the result! This allows us to plug in our wireless router and Qwest DSL modem into our now “green” power source…

As a somewhat unexpected boost to my ego, we had a power outage this morning that caused all of our neighbors’ wireless routers to go offline… meanwhile, our little wireless that could kept on chugging away. Since we have DSL, the phone company keeps us connected as long as we have an alternate power source. How cool is that?

Solar