Hello forum,
I've determined to power a mobile project (RFID reader with GPRS reporting system on a MEGA) with a 3.5Ah sealed gel battery. The unit will be powered with a solar panel, between 20 and 40W in size.
My question - is there a simple pcb unit available on the market that would charge the battery? I could use a conventional solar charge controller but these are relatively big and I'm tight on space on the project.
Tips would be much appreciated.
Here is a tip: tell us how much space is available! There are lead-acid battery charging chips available so you could make your own charging board with just a few other components.
Paul
The battery that'll fit snugly into my project box is 5.28 x 2.64 x 2.38 Inches. For the charger I can afford something the size of an UNO, give or take a bit. The box will have two tiny cpu fans to bring air in and hot air out, so the unit should not contribute to overheting the whole business.
But I need to come up with a number of these units, so ideally it would be an off the shelf product. When using a 20W panel it puts out around 1.2A at 18V.