Is the solar input realy working on my board?

#1

Hello,

I’m using a HTCC-AB01 (V2). Battery is connected via SH1.25 and solar cell via VS pin. All is working fine so far but I have the feeling that the board/battery is not getting energy from the solar cell. Setup is a sleep mode for the CubeCell board about 30 min.

I can measure the voltage of the solar cell pins and see if the sun is shining that the solar cell is sending energy. But the energy in my battery is getting lower. Although the sun always shines well on the solar cell over the period.

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Any idea what I have to check?

#2

Can you check the voltage across the solar panel with a multimeter? Can you tell us which solar panel you have / where you bought it? (Link is preferred.) And maybe share a picture of the setup if possible.

2 Likes
#3

I can hardly advise anything, I just want to know which solar panel and battery do you use?

#4

I use one of the following solar cells: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0BNDMS35X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In one of my two environments (same board, same code, same sensors, different location) I’m using this battery: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0CD28RGCX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and in the other env I’m using: https://www.ebay.de/itm/255510046348?_skw=LiPo+3.7V+Li+Ion+Lithium+Akku+Batterie+1S+JST-PH+2.0+Stecker+Tablet+GPS+mit+BMS&itmmeta=01JHWAQ9WZBKKQ9Q9V2K2V3KW5&hash=item3b7d95e68c:g:IesAAOSwVcFialVJ&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAABEHoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKkkTh2PVzF2n97cxdV%2BziB1yEaVRabj80sAR4mKsjakuEetZO6r%2FJLUAqLjQ8Kb%2BBLkaAymoMqoQ6vId440tRMU04zasgDXqGdVq2I%2Bkog58L60tUzAIh0HM0AwpDRGWG71tukr%2B5AKVIXfVjWg5OaN4DlQSpXrDpx6LEprgKjNi%2BLnH2GXAU9lSLSXMSESoDqpPU5Co%2Bjg8Gra09UJG%2BVocU6%2FE7UdAiWCC1zCaGuCj9a4PZgTYb%2FF5GWpYTi4cufCxF9FP0WS9LuEbN%2BMCBqdE0ZYkv0SjdxVG%2FGcU%2FvFeUejSf8bDcKvIOawI0oRWEYRm5ev12p%2BtcxlvZTLQZ%2FP|tkp%3ABk9SR9ie3YqPZQ

If you have an advice for another setup please let me know.

Here a picture of the test environment:

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#5

You’ll notice no clicks on the third link - it has tracking data all over it …

Batteries are batteries, quality does vary but too complex to make to get them completely wrong.

I’d suspect that a 1W panel is a bit small - in theory you get 166mA but that’s if you are on the equator at midday with no clouds in the sky and the panel horizontal - getting half that on a sunny day in Europe wouldn’t be a surprise and in winter, well …

So I’d try something much bigger as a one off so you can see what you get and then figure out a sweet spot.

#6

I think the solar cell and the battery must work fine Solar Cell at VS and Battery at the connector for the battery (Backside)