Wall-mount, solid-state heat pump for chicken coops.
12V power, Peltier module sandwiched between, conceptually, two tallish CPU coolers (I think it ends up being 40mm heatsinks with fans and some custom ducting), and a controller to drive the module in either heat or cool mode and control the fans appropriately. Some kind of communication interface for local or remote UI, and for coordinating multiple units if applicable.
I dunno, maybe somebody's already making ductless mini HVAC units for chicken coops, dollhouses, and the like. (Insulating the walls in chickenproof fashion is another matter.)
... No, running it off a solar panel is probably not practical, especially in winter (when power will also be needed to keep the water from freezing, etc.).
Meanwhile: A component needed for a different project turns out to be basically nonexistent. What I'm looking for is a low-side inductive driver chip, about 8 channels, suitable for relays, solenoids, and such, rated for at least 12V loads and 100mA drive, with an SPI interface, fault detection and reporting, and compatible with 3.3V logic. Having a PWM input would be a definite plus.
These used to be plentiful; now they're very much not. Nearest approximation I can find is from TI, and it has a 5V logic interface and no PWM. Oh, well: level shifters are still a thing, and I suppose I can take a different approach to modulating the solenoid supply voltage in the immediate application.
I can't entirely blame this on recent events; I already had two preferred parts of the general character go suddenly obsolete starting in maybe 2006 or thereabouts. The best ones came from Infineon, and Infineon's product line ain't exactly stable.
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