I am working on a project that incorporates several different types of microcontroller boards using both MySensors and ESPHome into Home Assistant for scientific data monitoring in outdoor and remote locations. I have heard that the NodeMCU is a power hungry board, but for reasons I won't go into great detail of right now (in short, availability where I am located) I am forced to use the NodeMCU for the time being and hoping to use the boards I already own for testing radio communication along with solar and battery powering of the devices.
The short version of my question is, "What is the maximum input voltage, using 3.3V pin, that I can safely power my NodeMCU (1.0) with without risking the chips?"
Here's some background and specs:
I am curretnly using the Adafruit Universal USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger - bq24074 (https://www.adafruit.com/product/4755) along with the 6V 2W Solar Panel - ETFE - Voltaic P126 (https://www.adafruit.com/product/5366) and the Lithium Ion Cylindrical Battery - 3.7v 2200mAh (https://www.adafruit.com/product/1781) to provide power. The universal charger board regulates output power to no more than 4.4V which is not enough to power the NodeMCU via VIN.
It does however power up along with the attached NRF24L01 radio and Adafruit BME680 - Temperature, Humidity, Pressure and Gas Sensor - STEMMA QT (https://www.adafruit.com/product/3660) boards when connected through one of the several 3.3V pins. I can see that the builtin blue LED on the NodeMCU is a bit brighter when hooked up this way, but I am not able to find any information in the older related topics or online about the suggested maximum input voltage through these 3.3V ports.
Any direct answers to this question or redirection to other known resources would be greatly appreciated.