Solar powered Uno

Hi,
I'm looking for advice regarding batteries and a li-po Driver Pro to power a solar-powered Arduino. The Arduino will be used to run a small array of 8-10 LEDs and 2 or 3 small motors which will be triggered by viewers pressing a button to initiate a 2 minute display.

The Arduino Uno will be powered by a home-made solar panel (see more details below). On brighter days the solar panel will charge a battery to ensure that there's still enough power for visitors on duller days / at night to activate the display. I think that a li-po Driver Pro would manage the energy demands: diverting the energy from the solar panel to run the Arduino / charge the battery as needed. As to the best battery... I really don't know... recommendations please!

  • Is the Li-po driver pro the best bit of kit to use?
  • Recommendations for batteries please!

The Solar Panel : The panel can be constructed to create 12v, then use a step-down convertor to change it to 5v (i.e. USB). I'm a director of Art and Energy CIC, exploring exciting ways to integrate Art and Energy! www.artandenergy.org. I'm an artist who is tentatively leaning towards the technology side of things... a newbie to all this so very grateful for any advice!

This might help you get started:

What is "li-po Driver Pro"? Please post a link to a datasheet for it. Neither I nor Google have heard of it.

Or did you mean the Lipo Rider Pro?

Steve

oops! sorry Steve, yes I mean the Lipo Rider Pro

You need to analyze the average energy usage and review the expected weather conditions, in order to size the solar panel and battery correctly.

How many days shall the system run when the weather is dark and rainy?

A rough estimate of battery life in hours can be made by determining the average current draw in mA, and dividing that into the battery capacity in mAh (milliampere hours). Divide the result by two for a battery aging and safety factor!