Solar Powered Smart Tag To Help Farmers

Solar powered smart tag

A zero-maintenance, autonomous, wireless “tag” powered by the sun will benefit farmers by enabling precision agriculture and smart irrigation according to its manufacturer.

Sol Chip Comm (SCC-S433) joins the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT), feeding readings such as soil/air temperature and nutrient levels from a variety of sensors into a cloud server. These readings are analysed by an application with view to providing valuable information to farmers for optimising irrigation and fertiliser use.

Sol Chip says the all-weather SCC, which measures 13 x 8 x 4cm, is designed to operate continuously for more than a decade – and without battery changes thanks to what the company calls its “Everlasting Solar Battery”. The battery is actually a combined solar cell (Saturn photovoltaic chip) and energy storage unit. Assuming the unit is fully charged, it can operate under zero light conditions for at least a month.

Sol Chip Comm - Internet of Things

The SCC has a wireless range of 1,500 metres and automatically uploads data harvested from sensors into the cloud. Multiple transmissions can be made each day.

It seems quite a few devices can be used in a single system. The company says it has “hundreds” of SCC-S433 tags wirelessly connected to a single Sol Chip Wireless Gateway using a star topology and transmitting via the 433MHz ISM band. Gateway backhaul options are GPRS, 3G, Ethernet or Wi-Fi.

“Sol Chip is uniquely positioned to realize our vision of enabling billions of autonomous IoT devices for many different market sectors in a way that is cost effective and environmentally sustainable,” says Sol Chip CEO and Founder,  Dr. Shani Keysar.

Sol Chip states the SCC device also has applications in other settings; including

  • Smart cities – such as sensors on garbage bins
  • Asset/personnel positioning and tracking – keeping tabs on valuable heavy equipment and people
  • Environmental monitoring – pollution and fire alerts
  • Smart grid – grid monitoring
  • Oil and gas Sector – pipeline monitoring.

Other similar products manufactured by Sol Chip have home automation applications; such as in connection with security systems, smoke/ gas detection and smart light switches.

Get a quick solar quote, or contact us today toll free on 1800 EMATTERS or email our friendly team for expert, obligation-free advice!

Other Energy Matters news services: