Sunday 27 April 2014

Arduino Project powered by Solar or Battery


After searching quite a bit on this topic I'm a little lost. I am new to the electronics side and am constantly learning more as I go along. I have a project where I'd like to power an Arduino Uno by a solar panel and battery. The Uno would run off the solar cell or battery depending on power is available (sun is up or down).


For simplicity, I was thinking of using a LiPo Rider Pro + a Solar Panel. I saw this came as a kit: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/wireless-sensor-node-solar-kit-p-919.html It claims it will output 5V which is what I believe the Arduino requires to run (is this right?). The kit does not list the components so I'm a little lost on what size solar panel to get. I believe this: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/1w-solar-panel-80x100-p-633.html would output the right voltage (lists: Typical Voltage: 5.5V). However, a 1W Solar panel outputs 170mA and a 3W solar panel outputs 540mA.


On the battery I was looking at this: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/lithium-ion-polymer-battery-2a-p-603.html It outputs: 3.7V at 2000mA.


Will this solution 1) power the Arduino and 2) will the solar panels charge the battery?


Another idea is to use the Solar Charger Shield V2: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/solar-charger-shield-v2-p-914.html?cPath=1_75 However, I'm still unsure about the solar panel and battery to choose.


Any guidance on this would be very helpful. I am very comfortable on the programming side, setting the Arduino to sleep, etc. The electronics side (the whole point) is a challenge I am enjoying!




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