- Fri Dec 30, 2016 8:19 am
#192690
Hello,
Either I don't understand how is it supposed to work and how to operate it, or something's not working in my new Sunny Buddy.
I have a 2 watt solar panel (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13781), the Sunny Buddy v13, and a 3.7v 2000mah LiPo battery (the one that comes with the Particle Electron Asset Tracker (https://store.particle.io/products/asset-tracker), which is labeled PKCELL LR103450).
Before connecting the Lipo battery, I checked its voltage and it was 3.97v.
I connected only the solar panel, checked the SET voltage and changed the potentiometer until it was 3v - just like explained in the hooku guide - https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/su ... king-it-up.
I connected the battery and even after a few hours its voltage hasn't changed from 3.97v.
Later that day, when I didn't have a direct line from the sun, but did have a very good reflection from the buildings around, I checked the SET, CHARGE, FAULT and the cell output itself, and got the following:
Cell - 6.45v
SET - ~2.8v
CHARGE - 3.94v
FAULT - 3.94v
Sometimes, I saw the CHARGE has dropped to 0.03v-0.04v which jumped back to 3.94v when I put my hand over the cell (hiding the light). Sometimes it went back to 0.04v when I removed my hand, sometimes it didn't.
FAULT always stayed at 3.94v.
So... what is going on ?
What am I doing wrong ?
What do I need to tweak ?
Is my Sunny Buddy broken ?
Thanks for the help.
Either I don't understand how is it supposed to work and how to operate it, or something's not working in my new Sunny Buddy.
I have a 2 watt solar panel (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13781), the Sunny Buddy v13, and a 3.7v 2000mah LiPo battery (the one that comes with the Particle Electron Asset Tracker (https://store.particle.io/products/asset-tracker), which is labeled PKCELL LR103450).
Before connecting the Lipo battery, I checked its voltage and it was 3.97v.
I connected only the solar panel, checked the SET voltage and changed the potentiometer until it was 3v - just like explained in the hooku guide - https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/su ... king-it-up.
I connected the battery and even after a few hours its voltage hasn't changed from 3.97v.
Later that day, when I didn't have a direct line from the sun, but did have a very good reflection from the buildings around, I checked the SET, CHARGE, FAULT and the cell output itself, and got the following:
Cell - 6.45v
SET - ~2.8v
CHARGE - 3.94v
FAULT - 3.94v
Sometimes, I saw the CHARGE has dropped to 0.03v-0.04v which jumped back to 3.94v when I put my hand over the cell (hiding the light). Sometimes it went back to 0.04v when I removed my hand, sometimes it didn't.
FAULT always stayed at 3.94v.
So... what is going on ?
What am I doing wrong ?
What do I need to tweak ?
Is my Sunny Buddy broken ?
Thanks for the help.