Battery Charger/Manager

Hardware
1

Is there a good example of a battery manager schematic where I can have a power supply for my Photon, and also charge a battery at the same time or use the battery power when the supply is disconnected, and keep the photon informed of the power remaining, etc…

Any clues would be great!

2

What about the photon battery shield? It does exactly those things, and is stackable with the photon/Core. Should be shipping somewhere this month as well :smile:

3

That’s it but there are no schematics out there yet! Or are they?

4

Hmm… Let’s ask @mohit and or @BDub, they (amongst others) have designed it, and should be able to tell us more :slight_smile:

5

@frlobo, there are schematics available but just not publicly yet :cry: I suspect they will be released as soon as the units go to production.

6

I have a battery shield on order, but until then, I’m using this: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1944
Works really well.

7

Thank you all… Il take a look at the suggestions.

In the meantime, let’s hope that @mohit @BDub give an answer :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

8

The new battery shield does exactly what you want. All the shields are currently under production and once we get a confirmation, I’ll make the design repository public. In the meantime, I can send you the design files for you to take a look at.

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9

That would be awesome!

10

I can’t find a battery shield, are you talking about the “Power Shield”?

Since no specs yet, I can only hope for a couple things.

  1. Onboard and/or offboard battery. Multiple voltage ranges, such as 3v7, 7v4, 12v…
  2. Able to take a 12V solar panel input ( usually up to around 18 volts) for charging.
  3. Alert when normal power drops, so script can switch to low power mode.
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11

@mohit I sent you a PM with my e-mail address… Did you get it?

12

@Jack, @frlobo, @mohit had outlined the specs in another topic:

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13

Yup! Files on the way!

Thanks!

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14

Thanks!!!

15

Hi there,

As an outside possibility, how about a readymade unit and plugging in with micro USB?
This might work well in a clear lid enclosure with a sachet of silica gel in the enclosure for good measure.

Do a search for “5000mAh USB Waterproof Solar Power Bank Battery” on ebay.

On a Spark core consuming 50mA this would give about 70 hours runtime (being 3.7V lithium battery at 5000mAh). Clearly longer on a Photon where cited power consumption is lower than 50mA.

Building your own would enable more control over deisgn parameters, and may work better in winter conditions with insufficient daily charging light for the unit to cover 24hr consumption by your circuits. Although in sunnier climates than the UK, that may not be a problem.

Best regards,
Eclectica.

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