Powering Electron & ADS 1231 / load cell (5V) with Sunny Buddy (Solar & LiPo)

Troubleshooting
1

My current setup is an Electron on a Shield Shield to power a load cell via ADS 1231 with 5V. As power source I use a powerbank.

For the next iteration I like to use a Sunny Buddy together with a solar panel. I also like to use a Pololu 5V Step-Up Voltage Regulator instead of the Shield Shield. Is this a good idea?

If this is a good way, should I connect Load +/- of the the Sunny Buddy to the LiPo Battery Connector of the Electron? And then VIN of my electron to VIN of the pololu and VOUT of the pololu to the power of the ADS?

Thanks in advance for your help.

2

(Moved here from other thread for completeness)

@peekay123 Can I also use the https://www.pololu.com/product/2564 instead of the https://www.pololu.com/product/2562? Looks like the 2564 has no shutdown pin.

I like to power an ADS 1231 with a load cell (http://www.bosche.eu/en/products/load-cells/single-point-load-cell-h30a). The load cell needs 5V.

So my question is: I need to connect VIN of my electron to VIN of the pololu and VOUT of the pololu to the power of the ADS, right? cc @mhdevx.

If so, I can replace my Particle Shield Shield and the setup is much smaller. (Currently it works with the Shield Shield)

3

@jensfranke, I’m travelling to the San Francisco Maker Faire today (and to be with Particle folks!). In the meantime, perhaps @ScruffR can help.

4

I’ll have a look - thanks Paul for the ping :wink:

@jensfranke, just for the comparison of the two converters, you could use the 2564 just as well if you won’t need the shutdown pin.
It’ll become handy tho’ if you intend to use power saving modes on the Electron, since the efficiency of these converters goes down quite a bit when the current draw sinks.

But the foremost question here seems to be how to connect the converter to your setup.
Given this thread is about the Photon it might be better to move this question into it’s own thread or attach it to one of these
https://community.particle.io/search?q=5v%20electron
Where should I move this for you?

Meanwhile, in order to answer your question, could you tell how you’re intending to power your Electron?
Will you have USB supply?
Will you have a LiPo connected?
Or both?
If using a LiPo without USB, how will you be charging your LiPo?

5

@ScruffR Thanks for explanation regarding 2564 vs. 2562. I think 2562 is better for my project.

Regarding my way to power the Electron: Currently I use a LiPo, but my prefered setup is with the Sunny Buddy from Sparkfun and this panel. Is this a good idea?

If this is a good way, should I connect Load +/- of the the Sunny Buddy to the LiPo Battery Connector of the Electron? And then VIN of my electron to VIN of the pololu and VOUT of the pololu to the power of the ADS?

And sorry, please feel free to move my question to a better place.

(end of moved portion)

6

@ScruffR, @peekay123: Today I got the Polou 2562 and so I start again thinking about my plan:

Regarding my way to power the Electron: Currently I use a LiPo, but my prefered setup is with the Sunny Buddy from Sparkfun and this panel. Is this a good idea?

If this is a good way, should I connect Load +/- of the the Sunny Buddy to the LiPo Battery Connector of the Electron? And then VIN of my electron to VIN of the pololu and VOUT of the pololu to the power of the ADS?

It would be nice to get some help regarding the way how I plan to connect these components.

Thanks in advance for your help!

7

I start to rework on this project and it would be great to get the help of @ScruffR or @peekay123 to find the way how I need to connect Polou 25621 with the ADS 1231 to get 5V. In the end I want to power the whole system with the Sunny Buddy from Sparkfun. Thanks in advance for your help!

8

Your better off skipping the sun buddy and just charging the Electron and instead just use 5v solar panels and use code to limit the solar input from going below 4.8v which will prevent the solar panel from operating under its MPPT power point which is the whole point of the SunBuddy.

9

Thanks for you help, @RWB. Do you have any links or resources with example code to read more about your tipp?

10

@jensfranke: Have you made any additional progress? I am in a similar situation. I was wondering if you continued with the Sunny Buddy or switched to a different solution.

11

I will go this way https://www.voltaicsystems.com/blog/building-solar-powered-cloud-connected-devices/