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    Can I use a 5V Solar panel on the USB Input to Charge

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Expansion Board
    lopybattery
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    • P Offline
      Paul_Stewart
      last edited by

      I am aiming for complete autonomy of a LoPy in an expansion board and just wondering if it is possible to use a 5V solar panel to either the USB port or VIN?

      The issue I see is that a 5 volt panel will rush to 7 volts in full sun. Some figure I found says Vmax at 5.5V for the expansion board.

      While the charge controller (BQ24040) seems to be able to handle up to 30V can the rest of the board handle it?

      cheers
      Paul

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      • B Offline
        bombledq
        last edited by

        @Paul_Stewart
        Hi Paul,

        Do you succeed with your setup? I also had the same idea but i'm still waitinv my solar panel... thanks for your feedback

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        • P Offline
          Paul_Stewart
          last edited by

          Yes I have done this with this board and others that need a 5V input.

          It was as simple as putting in a zener diode in between the panel and board as a cheap, simple voltage limiter

          cheers
          Paul

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