How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?
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@gohan said in How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?:
what did you expect from the quality checks in China? 😁
Well, to be honest, what I expected was that they would all be roughly the same, but probably far short of what was claimed.
Where are your solar cells made? China, right? How are you dealing with the variation in what you get? I could buy solar cells from Digikey that are much more uniform, but they'd probably cost 6-10x as much. So, should I just buy more than I need from China and bin them myself? Or should I change the design to assume the worst of the possible range? Or buy from a seller with a better reputation? I think I'll try the later first.
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Interestingly, in direct sunlight they all measure at an open circuit voltage of 7v +- 0.1v. So, go figure as to why the range is so much wider under dim conditions.
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Interestingly, in direct sunlight they all measure at an open circuit voltage of 7v +- 0.1v. So, go figure as to why the range is so much wider under dim conditions.
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@mfalkvidd I doubt it. I measured it more than once, and it was repeatable.
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@mfalkvidd I doubt it. I measured it more than once, and it was repeatable.
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Anyhow, I'm going to string a number of these cheap panels in series and see if I can power a mote off of mere moonlight. I think it will probably work, which would be pretty cool.
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@mfalkvidd
Will do. Have you found a good source for mini/micro solar panels? Not being confident about what I would actually get, to date my purchases have been somewhat random.I think the Solar Bit would probably be excellent for moonlight powered motes, if only because their combined size would still be small enough so as not to be awkward. Of course, being powered by moonbeams is an artificial objective. What it would really mean is that your mote could probably be powered just about anywhere that's not completely sealed off from light. Any indoor living space that's not a closet would probably get enough light.
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@mfalkvidd
Will do. Have you found a good source for mini/micro solar panels? Not being confident about what I would actually get, to date my purchases have been somewhat random.I think the Solar Bit would probably be excellent for moonlight powered motes, if only because their combined size would still be small enough so as not to be awkward. Of course, being powered by moonbeams is an artificial objective. What it would really mean is that your mote could probably be powered just about anywhere that's not completely sealed off from light. Any indoor living space that's not a closet would probably get enough light.
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@NeverDie I bought my first two over a year ago. Have not used them yet. So no, nothing useful unfortunately.
@mfalkvidd
It's a pity this topic hasn't attracted more interest. I guess people are happy with their batteries. -
There seems to be a sweet spot at 6V 1W when it comes to price/performance, at least specified performance. Smaller panels are relatively expensive, and so are larger. I have ordered four of these but they haven't arrived yet.
I have been looking for flexible panels, something that could be folded or rolled up, but haven't found anything with a decent price so far.
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I think that's because that's where the market demand is. It's hard to find smaller panels generally. I have these on order, but neither has yet arrived:
https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?orderId=83597824322273&productId=32253274314
https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?orderId=83519564882273&productId=32644217312
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The problem of adding up panels is that your node would get quite big. The other day I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about a new sensor device with a special paint on the case that acts as a solar panel that charges the internal battery/supercap that needs to be much smaller than usual battery powered sensors
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The problem of adding up panels is that your node would get quite big. The other day I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about a new sensor device with a special paint on the case that acts as a solar panel that charges the internal battery/supercap that needs to be much smaller than usual battery powered sensors
@gohan said in How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?:
The problem of adding up panels is that your node would get quite big. The other day I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about a new sensor device with a special paint on the case that acts as a solar panel that charges the internal battery/supercap that needs to be much smaller than usual battery powered sensors
Yes, that's why I mentioned that Solar Bits (which are just 7mm x 22mm in size but deliver 4.7v) might be a good fit for multiple panels in series. The sum of their areas wouldn't be large. But they come at a price... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ixys/KXOB22-01X8F/KXOB22-01X8F-ND/4840081
Do you have a link to the podcast? Never before heard of a paint that produces solar power. Is it something I can buy?
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@mfalkvidd said in How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?:
@NeverDie Interesting. Let us know what result you get.
I just now tried four 6v panels powered in series by moonlight just to see what would happen, and it produced only 0.06v. :( So, scratch that idea.
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@mfalkvidd said in How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?:
@NeverDie Interesting. Let us know what result you get.
I just now tried four 6v panels powered in series by moonlight just to see what would happen, and it produced only 0.06v. :( So, scratch that idea.
@NeverDie ths is slightly off topic, but can you recommend any rectifier with low drop voltage to use to prevent the solar panel from discharging the supercap/battery? I'm not comfortable with SMD, so I need to find something that's big enough to hand solder, has low drop and doesn't cost too much.
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@gohan said in How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?:
The problem of adding up panels is that your node would get quite big. The other day I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about a new sensor device with a special paint on the case that acts as a solar panel that charges the internal battery/supercap that needs to be much smaller than usual battery powered sensors
Yes, that's why I mentioned that Solar Bits (which are just 7mm x 22mm in size but deliver 4.7v) might be a good fit for multiple panels in series. The sum of their areas wouldn't be large. But they come at a price... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ixys/KXOB22-01X8F/KXOB22-01X8F-ND/4840081
Do you have a link to the podcast? Never before heard of a paint that produces solar power. Is it something I can buy?
@NeverDie I have to look at it but it's in Italian and the paint it wasn't just simple paint, but different layers of semiconductor materials printed on the case, so something quite difficult to do at home.
@mfalkvidd I usually seen schottky diodes on the solar panel for that purpose.
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@NeverDie ths is slightly off topic, but can you recommend any rectifier with low drop voltage to use to prevent the solar panel from discharging the supercap/battery? I'm not comfortable with SMD, so I need to find something that's big enough to hand solder, has low drop and doesn't cost too much.
Not sure about through-hole blocking diodes. I'm using 1PS79SB30, which is SMD, but reverse current leakage is just 10na. Practically all the new good stuff is SMD, so you're severely impaired if you don't make the jump to SMD. SMD is nothing to be afraid of. Presently I'm hand soldering everything, including all SMD parts.
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Not sure about through-hole blocking diodes. I'm using 1PS79SB30, which is SMD, but reverse current leakage is just 10na. Practically all the new good stuff is SMD, so you're severely impaired if you don't make the jump to SMD. SMD is nothing to be afraid of. Presently I'm hand soldering everything, including all SMD parts.
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@NeverDie thanks. How do you handle lead times för pcb manifacturing? Or is it possible to buy prototype pcb cards? I'm worried project lead times will 10x if I need to wait for pcb milling for each iteration.
@mfalkvidd said in How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?:
@NeverDie thanks. How do you handle lead times för pcb manifacturing? Or is it possible to buy prototype pcb cards? I'm worried project lead times will 10x if I need to wait for pcb milling for each iteration.
I'm not sure how others handle it, but what I do is solder each individual SMD part onto pre-made breakout board for SMD parts. Here's an example of one I use frequently: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100pcs-SOT23-SOP10-MSOP10-Umax-SOP23-to-DIP10-Pinboard-SMD-To-DIP-Adapter-Plate-0-5mm/32769473900.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.exgj0t
Then I attach header pins to it and complementary header pins onto a general purpose protoboard, such as: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pcs-3X7cm-3-7cm-Double-Side-Prototype-pcb-Breadboard-Universal-for-Arduino-1-6mm2-54mm-Practice/32655345057.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.exgj0t
Then I literally plug the SMD part into the protoboard. I then solder wired connections among the various parts. Sometimes I'll use breadboards, but I prefer this method because the wiring on breadboards can get rather loose, which becomes a headache, whereas doing soldered wire connections on protoboard, the connections are great quality and "made" forever until you decide to change them. I do it this way first rather than going straight to PCB because of the long PCB fab time (on average around 2 weeks for me from OSH PARK). Once I verify the design is correct using the protoboard, then I'll translate it to PCB as the final step. Also, while I'm waiting for the PCB to arrive, I have a solid working prototype, so I can continue working on whatever is next and the turnaround time for PCB fabrication isn't quite so painful.Does that answer your question?
