Using 6V Solar Panel and 6V Lead Acid Battery to Power Arduino Nano

Dear Arduino Community,

Can I use a 6V 1W Solar Panel connected to a 6V 4.5A Lead Acid Battery to power the Arduino Nano through the VIN and GND pins? Can I do this while drawing 5V from the Nano for an external circuit and powering a NodeMCU module at the same time? Will I need a diode circuit or solar charge controller for the the battery and panel connection?

Thank you in advance.

You say nothing about the duty cycle and nothing about the "external circuit", so the only answer is - hardly. The solar panel is flea-power - 166mA, just in case you are asking. It will mean that the battery is doing all the work and, and even if Arduino's service is intermittent, you will constantly be worrying if the charger is up to the job, and rightly too. The recommended charging voltage for a 6v lead acid is probably about 7.2v, so I guess you will need a sophisticated charging circuit. Otherwise you will be further behind the 8-ball than ever. You need to check the minimum power requirements for both Nano and NodeMCU, neither of which are famous for their frugality. You should also check that the battery is deep cycle, as a little one like that probably isn't. You might also check to see if Nano is redundant, as that might change the game considerably. This last particularly if the Nano is 5v. A Nano and a NodeMCU can hardly ever be good partners and, if you really have to have both, I submit the Nano should be replaced by a Pro Mini.

166mA, just in case you are asking.

In Ideal conditions with bright sunshine. The rest of the time less than that, nothing at night.

Apart from the fact that the Nano and NodeMCU each have a USB interface device drawing power whether or not USB is connected and even if you put the processor to sleep, it makes no sense at all to have a Nano in addition to the vastly more powerful processor in the NodeMCU.

This project is dead in the water thus far! :astonished:

This project is dead in the water

Another way of looking at this project is that a great deal of possibly useful learning could happen.

akarshaurora:
Dear Arduino Community,

Can I use a 6V 1W Solar Panel connected to a 6V 4.5A Lead Acid Battery to power the Arduino Nano through the VIN and GND pins? Can I do this while drawing 5V from the Nano for an external circuit and powering a NodeMCU module at the same time? Will I need a diode circuit or solar charge controller for the the battery and panel connection?

Thank you in advance.

A 6V solar cell with an unconnected voltage output of >6 would be ideal. The solar cell should power a PWM or MPPT charge controller

If you are going to use 6V battery, running the project off 3.3V would be best.


I use 12V solar cells into a PWM Charge Controller to a 12V LiFePo4 16Ah battery. The battery supplies a 5V automotive 5V switching regulator. The regulator supplies V's for the rest of the project. I run 2 servo motors, sensors, and 2 esp32's.

Probably is better if you use a 12V solar panel and a buck-boost regulator for charge the battery (with a decent capacitor at the input and an antibackflow diode between panel and regulator) ... so it can charge (also if with some limitations) also in no-full-sun or cloudy conditions ... :wink:

Etemenanki:
Probably is better if you use a 12V solar panel and a buck-boost regulator for charge the battery (with a decent capacitor at the input and an antibackflow diode between panel and regulator) ... so it can charge (also if with some limitations) also in no-full-sun or cloudy conditions ... :wink:

PWM or MPPT Charge controllers helps with keeping the battery properly charged. With a Charge controller no need for diode steering.

Either way, the answer is that you must have a solar panel adequate for the job.

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