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



  • 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



  • 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



  • @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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