An improved solar-rechargeable power bank
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ม.ค. 2022
- I had meant to improve the setup from my previous video ("The solar-rechargeable power bank"), but Waveshare have beaten me to that. So, rather than watch me tinker, you can listen to me explain the issues about the original Solar Power Manager, and how it's successor - Solar Power Manager B - addresses those.
None of the content of this video is sponsored. Duplicate the suggestions made in this video at your own risk.
My previous video, on which this one builds: • Hacking the Anker Powe...
How to get access to the solar power leads in an Anker PowerPort 21W: • Hacking the Anker Powe... - the design of other portable solar chargers should be similar.
Link to the Solar Power Manager B product page: www.waveshare.com/solar-power...
Hiking trips:
First: Duration=6.5h, Energy=8.5Wh, Capture rate=1.31Wh/h - 98% of SPM-A
Second: duration=2.55, Energy=7.8Wh, Capture rate=3.12Wh/h - 235% of SPM-A
Image and footage credits:
- Background image: pixabay.com/photos/furniture-...
- Super 8 mm film overlay: • Super 8mm film ( After...
- Smartphone with charger: pixabay.com/photos/two-pin-tw...
- Smartphone: pixabay.com/vectors/iphone-an...
- Clock: pixabay.com/vectors/clock-tim...
- USB-C plug: pixabay.com/photos/cable-wire...
- Tablet: pixabay.com/vectors/tablet-el... - Laptop: pixabay.com/vectors/laptop-co...
- Heat warning: pixabay.com/vectors/strong-he...
- 3D printer: pixabay.com/videos/3d-printer...
- Footage of hiking path created using Google Earth Pro - Thumbs up: pixabay.com/vectors/like-gest...
- Speech bubble: pixabay.com/vectors/speech-bu...
- Bell icon: pixabay.com/vectors/bell-icon...
List of fast charging standards: en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?... - chapter "USB power delivery" - "Faster-charging standards"
Background music:
- Unicorn Heads - Vital Wales (TH-cam library)
- Everything Begins - Instrumental by Danosongs (danosongs.com/track/1526236/e...)
- "Acoustic Meditation 2" and "Skinny Leonard" by Audionautix - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. creativecommons.org/licenses/... - Artist: audionautix.com/ - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![[TH] VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs DAY 2 // PRX vs G2 | EDG vs TH](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T5j2XVcDFs0/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks mate! Bought the components to give this a try. A hikable solar system with reasonable weight vs performance would be a dream come true for many! Would love to see the panels re-dressed in a UL waterproof dyneema (or similar) housing.
Great, enjoy the setup. Indeed, manufacturers could do more for the market of backpackers. I'll try to keep up with developments but I'm busy with other projects at the moment. Cheers!
Thanks dude! A video request please..... I would like to understand more about batteries, solar panels and putting them together to build my own but I just don't know where to start. What do I need to learn and understand what you know and understand? I hear you when you talk and I do kinda understand but I think for me (as a beginner) I need it broken down like a 'book for dummy's' so to speak. You would be a great teacher and I look forward to more videos from you. Thanks ❤
Thanks for this second video!
As I already mentioned in the comment on the last video, I also bought and tested the two solar power banks from Waveshare. First the small Solar Power Management Module and also this larger Solar Power Manager (B). I described my tests with the small module in my last very long comment on your last video. Here I will now briefly write something about my tests with the larger Solar Power Manager.
It is particularly important for solar buffer batteries that they can not only efficiently release the stored energy, but that they can also efficiently store the energy supplied. For power banks that are charged via grid power, the input efficiency may not be that important, since then a little more power from the socket is wasted. However, when energy sources are limited, such as from a solar panel, it is just as important that as little energy as possible is lost during the storage process. Most tests and also most brand manufacturers do not pay attention to the overall efficiency from input to output, but are only interested in the output efficiency, since they always calculate with almost infinite energy resources from the socket. For a solar storage system, however, the overall efficiency is the decisive factor and not just how much energy can be obtained from the power bank in relation to the nominal capacity. The overall efficiency is measured by the percentage of the energy used for charging that can ultimately be recovered from the power bank. So output energy (Wh) / input energy (Wh) * 100 = overall efficiency.
I tested the overall efficiency of the Solar Power Manager (B) once in relation to charging via the USB input and once in relation to charging via the solar input (DC Jack).
Tested overall efficiency of the Solar Manager (B) via USB input:
Fully charged via USB-C input at 5V and 1.6A > required energy 44 Wh
Fully discharged via USB-A output at 5V and 2A > energy gained 33.5 Wh
Overall efficiency is 33.5 / 44 * 100 = 76%
Tested overall efficiency of the Solar Manager (B) via Solar DC Input:
Since the sun wasn't shining enough, I simulated a solar panel by providing 6V at the solar input of the Solar Manager via a boost converter. Of course, I measured between the boost converter and the solar manager, i.e. at 6V.
Fully charged via solar input at 6V and 0.9A > required energy 45.2 Wh
Fully discharged via USB-A output at 5V and 2A > energy gained 30.6 Wh
Overall efficiency is 30.6 / 45.2 * 100 = 68%
Since direct charging via the 6V of the solar panel eliminates the usual loss of the USB charge controller from 6V to 5V, this loss, which does not exist here, must be considered positively in order to compare it with charging via the USB connection. Common USB solar charge controllers have an efficiency of 90% (tested by me). Accordingly, the comparable overall efficiency is not 68%, but 68 / 0.9 = 76%. Or calculated the other way around: The overall efficiency when charging via USB is actually not 76%, but 76 * 0.9 = 68%, since another 10% is lost on the charge controller of the solar panel. The overall efficiency when charging via USB or via the solar DC input is therefore exactly the same. Either 76% if you only measure after the charge controller of the solar panel or 68% if you measure directly on the solar panel before the charge controller.
With 76% overall efficiency, the Solar Power Manager is actually in the top field of conventional power banks. Overall efficiency of power banks tested by me: Sunnybag 10000 mAh = 75%; Intenso XS 5000 = 75%; iStore 5200 = 68%. Test results for other power banks from professional testers: Anker PowerCore 10000 = 72%; Nitecore NPB1 = 75%; Anker PowerCore 5000 = 62% etc.
In comparison, the small Waveshare module only has an overall efficiency of about 45% (see my comment on the last video).
Pass-through charging:
Pass-through charging seems to work without any problems via the solar input. On a 12-hour bike ride, two 6V solar panels (7W each) were connected in parallel to the solar input and an iPhone 6 SE to the USB-A output at the same time. The iPhone could be charged without interruption by the Solar Manager, even in shadows, clouds and changing light situations. How high the efficiency of this pass-through charging is, i.e. whether the energy of the solar panel is actually provided directly at the output or whether it is unnecessarily first regulated down to 3.7V and then regulated back up to 5V, I have not yet been able to correctly testing.
It is also extremely positive that pass-through charging also works via solar input and USB-C output, with Power Delivery activated. This means it is possible to get 15W output from the power bank while simultaneously charging it from a solar panel via the solar jack. This makes the power bank suitable for supplying power to a laptop or an Ipad, for example, while the power bank is being charged via a solar panel at the same time, lets say on the beach. For example, my MacBook Air charges slowly but steadily when used at the same time. The disadvantage, however, is that the solar input does not take up more than 10 watts. This means that with Power Delivery activated, the power bank will get empty, even if it is being charged at the same time via solar with a 50W panel. Again one of the strange decisions of Waveshare.
The USB-C input, on the other hand, does not offer uninterrupted pass-through charging! I tested this on the bike tour mentioned above, with a 5V USB solar panel (7 W). The Solar Manager was two-thirds full and yet with the iPhone connected to the USB-A output and the solar panel connected to the USB-C input, the iPhone was constantly switched on and off, depending on whether shade or sun was falling on the solar panel. This means that the energy at the USB-C input is passed directly to the USB-A output, without using the energy from the battery when there is a lack of input. This means that the Solar Manager is not suitable as an uninterrupted buffer bank when used with standard solar panels with a USB connection!
Conclusion:
While Waveshare's small solar module has such a poor overall efficiency that its use is absolutely out of the question (see comment on the last video), this solar manager is useful with limitations. It makes sense if you already have solar panels that don't have a USB connection but a DC plug. In this use, the Solar Manager is just as efficient as a normal solar-capable USB power bank, such as the 10000 mAh power bank from Sunnybag, which was specially developed for pass-through charging with USB solar panels and costs only 20 EUR. The Solar Manager only really makes sense with 12V panels or with 18V panels, since normal power banks are not suitable for this and the pseudo-MPPT chip probably works much more efficiently than other step-down converter. The Solar Manager is clearly not suitable for operating it as a solar buffer via the USB sockets.
There are also the following disadvantages: The Solar Manager weighs 288g (weighed), while the Sunnybag power bank only weighs 177g (weighed), with the same capacity. As already mentioned in the video, the DC solar socket is extremely wobbly and loose and is not at all suitable for mobile applications. Why Waveshare didn't use a standard 5.5 DC socket, but a 3.1 DC socket, is a mystery to me. Since there are no cables with 3.1 DC plugs, but only with 5.5, you still have to use an adapter that makes the connection even more fragile. Even solar panels with a DC connection never have a 3.1 connector, but mostly 5,5 or bigger. In addition, the Solar Manager is about twice the size of the Sunnybag power bank or other comparable power banks with 10,000 mAh.
My solution:
Both on bike tours, as well as hiking or traveling, I now always use small 6W solar panels labeled "Arvey E-Fill" with USB connection, without any hacks. These are the fourth type of solar panels I have tested and they are the best on all counts. A single 6W solar panel produces 4.3 watts under a blue sky in February in Germany around noon. It weighs only 110g (weighed). These are connected to the Sunnybag Powerbank via USB and work perfectly in all lighting conditions, both individually and in parallel. On bicycle tours, 3 of these are connected in parallel. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in February, I was able to generate 17.4 Wh in the sun with variable clouds. At least one of the three was always in the shade, since all three are aligned differently on the bike.
After testing and working with the Waveshare Solar Modules and even other pseudo-MPPT-Solutions for weeks, my advice: don’t waste your time by hacking your Solar-Panels. What you get is either a much less efficient setup (in case of the smaller Waveshare Module) or an equally efficient, but much heavier and bulkier setup (in case of the bigger Solar Manager). Just use a normal USB-Solar-Panel like the Arvey E-fill and a normal, but solarabel Powerbank like the one from Sunnybag or one from Nitecore etc.
Thank you for your comment.
I have pointed out some possible factors which affect charge/discharge efficiency of either PowMan in my response to your comment to my previous video. These factors should have less impact in the PowMan B, and the test results you mention seem to confirm this.
Again, regarding pass-through charging: Neither PowMan supports direct pass-through - the power will always have to undergo the conversion process of being stepped down to lithium-ion-voltage and then back up again to 5V (or 9V in the case of USB-C PD), regardless of whether it is used immediately or stored in the battery first, which of course adds more losses as I stated in my response to your comment on my previous video. Regarding the strange behaviour you observed while charging one device from the USB-A output and charging another from USB-C: I haven’t tested this before, but this indeed seems to be a limitation of the controller inside the PowMan, which is responsible for both USB ports (It also won’t allow the USB-C port to output at a higher voltage when USB-A is in use, which is of no importance to me because I rarely use the USB-A port). Because the solar-charging circuitry is separate, however, this should not affect power output from the PowMan while it is receiving power from the solar input.
Regarding the efficiency of wall adapters: Certainly, the amount of energy, which a smartphone charger draws from the mains is little consideration for manufacturers, and an extra Watt-hour or two each day isn’t going to affect people’s electricity bill by much, anyway. But a lower efficiency will always mean more heat, which is difficult to get rid of in the small package today’s chargers come in. Of course, semiconductors have become more heat-tolerant in recent years and manufacturers will always try to balance cost vs. efficiency.
Again, thank you for your suggestions of products which can be good alternatives to the PowMan. I may consider making another video on this subject in the future, although I'm now going to focus on somewhat different topics for a while.
@@toledomerendo
Good to know, that the Input is always regulated down to the battery voltage. So no effiecient pass through charging.
Regarding the USB-A / USB-C thing, I think you got me wrong. The strange behavior didnt appear whilst charging two devices via USB-A and USB-C port (this I didnt test). Instead I used the USB-C as input for an USB-Solar-Panel and connected my phone to the USB-A output. I wanted to use the Manager the same way I use my Sunnybag powerbank, that means as a buffer storage on a 5V-USB basis and not via the 6V input. Turns out: the power going in the USB-C input is directly passed through to the USB-A output, without a backup from the battery. Many powerbanks have exactly that behavior, especially the ones from Anker (according to techtes.org), which makes them unsuitable as a buffer storage for solar charging. Means: this is not a big surprise, but you could expect something different from a powerbank which is called "Solar Manager" ;)
Interesting point, that to reduce heat, a minimum efficiency is needed. Makes sense, havent thought of that. It was just interesting to see, that in professional test results of Anker powerbanks, the input efficiency was sometimes very low, but the output efficiency was always very high. Especially amongst leading brands this behavior was apparent. As high efficiency components are exponentionally more expensive (20 EUR for a single high efficient boost converter board from pololu!) they seem just to save money by using the cheaper components for the step down process. Because nobody (except the solar outdoor guys ;) seem to care about the input efficiency.
I think, it is possible, to design something much more efficient, than anything on the market. Adafruit for instance uses for there 5v 1A boost converter this boost chip from TI: TPS61030. For boosting from battery voltage to 5V it has an average efficiency of 95% until 1A output. Even at 2A output the efficiency is 85%. (the boost converter U3V70F5 from pololu is above 95% until 1A and above 90% until 2,5A). So lets think of a module which has 95% step down mppt conversion and a boost efficiency of also 95%. Then you end up with an overall efficiency of 90%. Thats already 15% better than the best powerbanks on the market. If in addition you also have pass-through-charging with almost no losses, you end up with an efficiency between 90% and 99%, depending on how much is directly passed through.
Adafruit has two solar modules which are sort of going in this direction. Problems: the first is limited to 1A, the second to 1,5A. The first has very efficient pass through, but the output goes then up to 6V, which means that you need a buck-boost-convert, which can handle 2,8 to 6V and those are not very efficient. The second tries to get rid of the high output voltage of 6V, but instead limits it to 4,4V, which means that during pass-through the 6V input still gets converted to 4,4V and then converted up to 5V with unnessecary losses. My solution would be to connect the input with the output with a buck converter, from 5-6V to 5,2V. Then a MPPT between 6V input and the battery. And a boost converter from the battery to the 5V output. The slightly higher voltage of the buck converter makes sure that the direct surply of the input is prefered if a load is connect. Inbetween are some shotkey diods. I guess this could work. Bottom line this would be a module with two chargers (one mppt and one buck converter) and one boost converter.
If you could design a module, which can do
1) real MPPT via 6V, 9V, 12V, 18V input (or only dedicated to one voltage) with 95% efficiency
2) has a boost efficiency from 3,7V to 5V of up to 95%
3) enables pass-through-charging with battery backup with effiency up to 99%
4) can be charged via USB-Input with 95% efficiency from 5V to battery-Voltage
5) can handle at least 4A / 20W input without any loss in efficiency
6) has PD USB-C output with 4A / 20W without any loss in efficiency
that would be a real winner! I would certainly buy one ;)
By the way, if you are interested in an outstanding solar panel: at the moment the Arvey E-fill is available for just 16,70 EUR at kfzteile24.de. It seems to have a very efficient regulator or even a buck converter, as the output performance is extremely good, completely unusual. UVP was 50 EUR, thats expensive ;) I would guess that you will only need one of those panel or maybe a second for your hiking trips with a solarable powerbank and get the same amount of energy as with your Anker. Maybe five times more than with the Waveshare module ;) Two weight only 220g instead of the ca. 500g of the Anker. Also the Arvey E-fill seems to be very popular amongst ultralight hikers, I think for a reason.
In contrast my ETFE coated and semi-flexibel 7W panels from China turned out to get broken when used on a bike with lots of vibrations and also if they are bent a little. After a while they only deliver half of their previous power. Guess, that they got microcraks and shouldnt have been designed in a semi-flexible way, because only special solar cells can withstand that and not the one they used. Another completely missdesigned product from china.
In my common scenario, when I have my panels out, I'd be charging my phone directly and the powerbank is a bit useless. I mean there is no need to first charge the powerbank, so I can later charge my phone from it. It's only useful when there are fluctuations from the panel and the phone rejects the charging voltage. So maybe the answer is to use supercapacitors. Charge/discharge efficiency is 85-98%, it's pretty crazy. Life-cycle is also invincible. Since the capacitor is nearly losless in terms of energy and can also accept any current/voltage whatsoever, you only need a step-down converter (assuming your're using a 5V+ solar panel). Why not use a 3-42V 3.5A LT8610AC chip, with a 96% efficiency? Sounds like a plan.
Even if the phone won't charge, the capacitor will and there wont be much energy wasted at all. I'm not an expert by all means, maybe somebody could elaborate on this.
I have thought about supercaps, too. I'll use one in an upcoming project. Regarding your question: off the top of my head, I'd say you could use supercaps as short term energy buffers. If your solar panel voltage is too high, you could use multiple caps in series and use some kind of balancer (chances are that the balancer would only be required in strong sunlight). If you have the means to do so, you can try it :-) otherwise, I could try it once my next project is complete.
@@toledomerendo Also you might want to have a look at Synchronous Buck Converter. It's more efficient than the usual single-mosfet one. Have just watched a lot of videos on how mppt works and I'd say for the use of small portable panels it might be irrelevant. It has to have a rather beefy cpu to be efficient in its algorhythms and can draw up to 3W by itself. Thats huge minding we're using lightweight panels that produce on average < 20W. Also MPPT is not really that efficient when you have fast changes in sunlight (ex. forest). The algorhytm does a lot of "hunting" for that sweet spot and no longer has that efficiency. I'm pretty positive that in our use case a supercap + synchronous buck converter would actually make a pretty neat setup.
Your presentation is extremely serious, I like this, it adds to your credibility. Thank you.
"unrelated to ice age"
:) nice little detail, I got that! Buck is my favorite character from Ice Age.
Finally someone who knows some engineering. Only one recommendation: when you want to test it just put it on the same place, don't do long hiking in witch the conditions will be even more variable.
Fantastic videos! I think world needs more videos on solar and socket charging, batteries and energy management in travel and hiking. I hope you will make them, your explanations are excellent.
Thank you for your kind words :-) I am working on a project which will be the basis for my next video(s) but it will be a different topic. It will contain some solar but not much. But I'll try to stick with the topic in the future. Lots of exciting stuff to explore.
I think this is one of the only videos on YT reviewing the WaveShare solar charge manager as of date! I came across this elegant product after spending hours and considerable amount of money on boards from Ebay which does not have all of these functionalities.
Thanks for the updated version ! This is exactly what I was looking for !
Glad I was able to help :)
Please make more of these videos. Great job
Great video - I think you'd be great at doing nifty project videos like this, I like the way you present. Have a great day!
Thank you, I appreciate that :) I've got the next project in the making so stay tuned.
Thank you for the follow up video. Very informative. May I suggest a video about the DIY board you built. Building a custom board will/might? be able to overcome the limitations you noticed about the Solar Power Manager B. Namely, the barrel connector and the need to reroute the power wires. I'd also like to use a larger li-ion battery. Custom-built sounds nice! Again, thanks for your time and effort.
Thanks! I might do something like that in the future. I'll need a decent USB-C PD controller though, at which point, a custom PCB is pretty much a requirement.
Thanks for sharing, I got a small GENASUN Li-On MPPT charger for my windows solar panel setup, it is not cheap for it capacity at $1xx, the one you mentioned is quite affordable should be included in small portable panels.
This is great! Fantastic content!
Thank you, I appreciate that
Awesome content!
Great video!!! Thanks
It seems the consensus among long haul thru hikers is that 10 AH is the best size of storage to have along.... just enough power to get to the next town (every 4 days or so) for a recharge.
Another viewpoint might be the Air traveler. the Airlines allow any lithium battery under 100 watts to be OK for carry-on air transport. In that case, a power bank of 27 AH would be the max allowable by the TSA in the USA
Waveshare should consider a "model B+" with the 27 AH battery and a plastic case to minimize weight. They also might consider changing the Model B over to a plastic case too for weight savings. .
Nice video man 👍
Thanks 👌
Would a small heat sink on the buck converter parts help dissipate the heat more safely? And I wonder if a 3-d printed case could help bring down the weight for backpacking... Thx!
Many thanks for your informative video!
I was at the edge of buying the Waveshare Solar Power Manager C with the 3x 18650 cells.
But I'm not sure.
At which Ampere rate can the Solar Power Manager charge the cells? If you got a 40W solar panel or a 30W one and the sun is good i fear you lose energy instead of saving it. I don't think, 3x cells can be charged at 30Watts?
What is the rated charge current of the device?
Perhaps it's only good for very smalls solar panels?
Nice one. I have made an 20w MPPT li ion charger which does get quite hot during max charging current but does get rhe job done very well. I ve also built a 15w QC2 charger to go with it so the 2 make a great little solar charger which is quite powerfull. May make some video at some point just to share
I was looking to find a module just like that, would be great to be able to set a charge voltage and a buck boost converter to set output voltage, bonus if it can be paralleled or series connected for increased capacity or output voltage, especially if you can parallel charge them with a smaller voltage and then series them to have a higher output voltage than the input... also if it can work with different sized batteries or even different chemistries
how would this compare to attaching the widely popular cn3791 mppt charger? Amy data? thanks, very insightful
Thank you for your great video. Why not use a usb-c input power bank instead and mod a usb-c cable to hook up to the solar panel.
Hi mr Toledo please clarify something for me- both anker and solar circuit board have to be on "6" ONLY and everything else off, correct? Also, the outlet ports on anker will no longer work? Thank you so much.
what a geat video!
Thank you :-)
Another follow up question. You use the Anker solar panel, and mention that it outputs 6 volts. What about the BigBlue solar panel? Does it output 6 volts? Looking at the pictures of it, there are 12 segments in each panel. I would presume 0.5v per segment, meaning 6 volts. What do you think? Thanks for your thoughts and ideas.
Would the newer one Solar Power Manager (C) work as well?
Can you connect Anker's USB output to this device's solar input instead (without the need to rewire the Anker)?
Or perhaps connecting Anker's USB output to the Type-C port on this device?
The USB ports will put out 5V, whereas the PowerManager requires 6V at the solar input to work correctly. You can try charging the PowerManager via the USB-C port. My Samsung powerbank has proven itself insuitable for that; I've never tried it with the PowerManager B.
The Ryno Tuff 21w charger i have clearly says right on it
5 volts at 2.1 amps which equals 10 watts according to the math so how they get away with advertising them as 21w I can't understand?
I liked your videos, why are you not filming anymore?
I'm thinking that we can achieve the same result by using a portable battery charger (so we don't lose the leftovers energy). After that we can use the portable battery for charge our devices.
Do you think the results are the same as yours?
(I wrote the same answer in your first video, maybe this video is newer and easly to achive)
Thx
What exactly do you mean by portable battery charger? A power bank? If so, it depends on the power bank, some perform better than others. Please let me know if this answers your question or not :-)
Is solar input a DC5521?
I think 12W is still not enough. It needs to be 18W. In addition, you need to be able to adjust the MPPT, since this point can shift depending on the strength of the light falling on the solar panel. Further, the video did not tell whether this power bank can simultaneously charge itself and charge some gadget; while performing the function of a power stabilizer. This is a very important feature for a power bank that must be paired with a solar panel. Further, in my opinion, it is better to have not a power bank, but a charger for 3 18650 batteries with a power bank function. It is highly desirable that the batteries are charged not in parallel, but through independent channels, so that batteries with different levels of residual charge can be installed simultaneously. And finally, I want to note that for a power bank or charger that are designed to work in tandem with a solar panel, it would be desirable to have a sound notification function about the end of the charge; this feature should be disabled. Well, this power bank should also be able to be charged not only from the solar panel, but also from the usual mains charging, so that it can be charged from the outlet in inclement weather, if there is such an opportunity.
@@gharbadtheweak3878 , I did not find such a power bank for sale. I had to make it myself. It works almost the same as I described above. The only difference is that in it the batteries are charged in parallel, and not through independent channels. Maybe someday in the future I will be able to make independent channels in it, but now I can’t do it.
The max charging of the power manager is 2amps, it cannot go above 9.5w even if you have a 100w solar panel. Can anyone suggest another mppt powerbank with atleast 15w solar charging.
Will this work with a 15 watt anker
Yes it should work just fine. I don't have a 15W Anker panel, but my guess is that it's identical to the 21W except for the number of panels. It will also save you some weight.
For someone who can't figure out electrical maths properly... What does this equate to in peak amps @ 5V? Are you getting more than the 2.4A @ 5V that would come via USB (in theory), or are you simply bypassing limitations in the USB output that may prevent you getting the full 2.4A even if the light levels would otherwise provide it? My basic understanding suggests you averaged 0.624A @ 5V on the second trip (0.624A * 5 = 3.12W)?
Hi. So, I'll try to clarify this. 2.4Amps is the maximum current at which the lithium-ion battery can be charged. The voltage of the battery is somewhere between 2.8V and 4.2V; it's not the 5V output. If the battery is sufficiently charged, the USB output can deliver full power, regardless of the present light levels. I hope this answers your question - if not, please let me know. Sorry for the confusion.
@@toledomerendo Hey, I mean the rate at which you were able to charge the SPMB's li-ion from the solar panel - you say you were capturing at a rate of 3.12Wh/h. What would be the equivalent in amps @ 5v to capture the same amount of power? I ask because I'm testing a few different models at the moment, and it seems they will all put out most of the max 2.4A @5V per USB terminal under the right conditions, but varies a lot by device connected, and trying to understand where the main benefit of a solar power manager like this would be.
Basically what I've seen is with a 4-panel foldable solar pack, i can get ~1.5A per port even in winter, so presumably closer to 2.4A in summer (the 3 panel Anker would max out before this I think), and at least with my power-banks (also Anker), they instantly recover current after a drop out from shade/clouds (unlike phones, which might stick @ 0.2A, or only ever get to 1A). So I just wonder if connecting the right powerbank(s) to the right size panel via USB would give similar results to connecting up the SPM like this - you obviously did the tests before, I just can't figure out the conversion from Wh to Ah, but you suggested you were only pulling 2.5W (0.5A @ 5v?) which is way lower than you should've got and might indicate an issue with the powerbank or panel you had. Or I just totally don't understand properly 😛.
I'm also guessing there's a point at which the current drops so low the powerbanks won't do anything, whilst the SPMB would keep pushing that to the connected li-ion, which would account for better performance, but you seem to get the best performance boost in the most sun so that doesn't make sense :|
So, the equivalent current for 3.12Wh/h at 5V would be about 0.6A. That's just an average, of course. The main point is, that sufficient energy can realistically be captured during a day of backpacking to keep one or two smartphones charged. But that's the charge rate which ends up in the li-ion cell.
The foldable solar panels will certainly put out ample power, as long as they stay in direct sunlight. But that's not feasible when backpacking. Some phones may recover from a sudden drop in power output, others may just stay at a minimum charge power. Of course, if you have a power bank which also recovers quickly, you could use that. The advantage of the Solar Power Manager is, that it will always try to match the power output of the solar panels point per point, with any level of insulation.
The point about charging the phone at 2.5W is due to the absence of power negotiation. Not all phones will draw so little power, some will "probe" the capabilities of the charger by ramping up the current and checking for drops in voltage. In any case, it's not the main issue, because usually, you'd charge a phone overnight anyways, so a charge time of several hours is not an issue.
@@toledomerendo Hi thanks for these videos, I bought a similar solar panel solution but with 36W output. The electronics were junk so I decided to start building my own setup. But then I run into this issue that there isn’t any real good hw that deals with fluctuating power and usb power delivery. What would you say is this device in video something that could take full advantage of 36 W panel?
Wouldn't it be better to pre-charge a power bank from something like a 28W stationary USB portable solar panel left on a window sill or garden etc and take the high speed charging capability with you, perhaps? I have a few power banks full to take a few USB things off grid and run some interior LED string lights as well. But I don't hike, so I'm possibly missing the point, but I get the MPPT issue nonetheless. Great work.
Yes that's an option if you can leave a solar charger stationary in the sun for a few hours. Like you said, my setup is intended for hiking trips. Depending on how much hiking there is each day, there may still be sufficient sunlight left at the end of a hiking day to charge up a power bank. But you'd have to carry the whole stuff with you anyway, so no weight savings there...
John, one or two day hikes - I would agree with you. Why haul all that stuff around? But, on long multi-month hikes, with 5-7 days between towns, having a way to recharge one's electronics would be worth the weight. In addition, not having to sit and wait for one's electronics to recharge, but instead, get one's resupply, and go, would be an advantage.
@@toledomerendo I get that. From the UK, so that's not something I factored.
Als Laie fehlt mir so einiges an Detailwissen, weshalb ich auf eine ganz knappe Antwort hoffe:
Warum bietet eine gewöhnliche Powerbank als Puffer zwischen Solarpanel und Smartphone denn keine vergleichbare Wirkung?
weil die kein MPPT kann. Ausserdem ist die lösung günstiges Modul + Powermanager B/C Günstiger als ein portables panel und ne Powerbank.
What aren't there any out of the box product like this... quite strange
I'm confused... Isn't this simply just a standard powerbank? What stops me from using any arbitrary powerbank, charging my phone while the powerbank is being charged by the solarpanels? I'm obviously losing efficiency twice through voltage regulation, but at least the battery is being continuously charged, right?
My experience, like your own, is that a smartphone will lose communication with the solar panel when the unstable current drops below a certain level, and sometimes does not pick back up on the communcation for quite some time, missing out on a significant amount of power.
Waveshare's SPMB looks unnecessarily large and clunky for doing something as simple as buffering the power output of a solar panel. I have an old LiPo solar charger circuit from Adafruit, which is essentially identical to Waveshare's original SPM (5V/1A), but is a fraction of its weight and size, and stores its main buffers in a large capacitor. It shouldn't be very hard to add a controller circuit that upregulates any high currents @ nominal voltage to its preferred charging standard without adding 100ml of metal bulk. Remember, a low power solar panel such as the Anker is a very simple device. It's unfeasible to expect it to charge anything but a single device at a time. So we really want only a single port, ideally just Power Delivery, to extract power out of the solar panel. It seems to me that the losses in having no buffer controller is so great that even the losses in battery regulation are preferable, if a medium such as a battery is needed to charge non-PD-compatible devices.
Edit: It certainly seems to me that an external battery makes the LiPo in the solar charger circuit redundant. Not to mention the power dissipation from the buck converter required for its regulation. This all but defeats the purpose of having a buffer in my opinion. A single chunky capacitor seems to me to reduce the load on the buck converter, while simultaneously providing steady power to an arbitrary external powerbank or other device.
same toughts and questions here...I'm using a Anker Powerbank to capture the solar energy, assuming it can handle the pending incoming energy-leveles. When beeing back in the night I can recharge my devices easisly with that fully loaded powerbank.