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Solar Powered Pi

Former Member

Hi,

 

Im looking to Power a Pi from batteries, which will be recharged by either solar pannel, or a combination of solar and a small wind turbine.


But because of where i want it i would need the pannel to be no bigger than 20cm square and the turbine 5cm Diam. Is it possible and if so any recomendations on which pannel and any other considerations i would need to take into account ?

 

 

Many thanks

  • It is possible, but a little complicated. To get optimum use out of a solar panel (which you will probably need to, with a small panel, and due to cost reasons), often a special circuit needs to be deployed, e.g. see Linear Technology's LT3652 datasheet. They have a single-cell charger example at the end, but you'd need to follow the datasheet to understand how to design for your battery chemistry.

    Without this type of circuit, a normal charger will give disappointing results. You'll probably have to resort to surface mount, since these types of modern ICs often won't come in bigger packages. Soldering surface-mount is fairly easy, so don't let that scare you if you have not tried it before.

    Secondly, even with the correct type of charger, a small panel (20x20) probably won't be able to provide enough energy to the battey to run the Rasp-Pi for a long time, so if the device will be placed in an unattended location then you may wish to make some circuit that will periodically power up the Pi, let it do it's work, and then shut down for a period. This is relatively easy to do.

    The model A has lower current consumption, so that will help too, but you'll still probably need the automated power-off/on circuit if in an unattended location.

  • in reply to shabaz

    thats brilliant, i shall look into that thanks!