Hi!
I'm trying to make an arduino run only with solar power. From what i searched I have two options:
-3.7V Lithium Battery with 6v Solar panel
This solution uses an 3.7V lithium battery charged with an charger module like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141916372678?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
And with 6V solar Panels.
My project has little current, that will not be an issue.
My problem is that from what I saw the Lithium batteries are sensible and very easy to caught on fire and that is an problem for the place I'll install it (full of wood).
The lead acid seems an good solution and since it's 12V it could in the future be used for more....
what's your opinion?
Lead acid and solar power go together very neatly. You don't need a fancy controller as the battery is almost impossible to over- or under-charge. Although a smart controller is a good idea for extra efficiency.
The only, only disadvantage with lead-acid is the weight. Since solar cells are also relatively heavy and immobile, this is not usually a problem.
What is your device?
I prefer at the moment, to use super caps and watchdog mode to really limit the current usage of my projects.
If your device only needs to "wake" at certain times to do stuff, then this is a great way to reduce the power consumption.
I'll be using this as an automatic watering system. So, each 3hours it will wake up, measure the soil humidity and turn on an 12v dc motor for 5 seconds and disconnect until the next 3 hours.
With a simple controler (4€ in ebay) and a simple lead acid 12V 1.2Ah from local store (6€) and an 12V 1W Solar Panel I guess I can make this work with some safety.
And in the future maybe add another Solar Panel to decrease charging time..
Yeh, I use a similar set up, but to be honest, a solar charge controller off e-bay for say 10A current @ 12V is dirt cheap and has all the features you need.
I have a 100Ah lead acid + 100W panel + 20A solar charge controller for my greenhouse. Works a treat.
PS> I have some nichrome wire based propagators in the GH and some general work lighting for if I need to do anything late on!
I'll be using this as an automatic watering system. So, each 3hours it will wake up, measure the soil humidity and turn on an 12v dc motor for 5 seconds and disconnect until the next 3 hours.
At the beginning i thought you gonna use for a simple sensor data or some kind of wireless solar panel data/datalog. So I thought suggesting you the LiPo with a balance charger is the perfect option, LiPo will never explode or such thing with the nice balance charger a great small box everything gonna work good.
But after you re-commented and you said you gonna use it for water pumping / automatic and datalog sensors..etc in this case It's better to use Lead Acid, lead acid can be charged and discharged when you want how ever you want in the other way the LiPo from my experience don't like that kind of treatment.
fabmsg:
I'm trying to make an arduino run only with solar power. From what i searched I have two options:
-3.7V Lithium Battery with 6v Solar panel
what's your opinion?
fabmsg:
turn on an 12v dc motor for 5 seconds and disconnect until the next 3 hours.
In the light of the second quote, I would have thought the choice of power would be pretty obvious.
Johnny010:
What is your device?
I prefer at the moment, to use super caps and watchdog mode to really limit the current usage of my projects.
If your device only needs to "wake" at certain times to do stuff, then this is a great way to reduce the power consumption.
What type of balancing circuit do you use for your supercaps?