4 ms·

That is so awesome, thanks for this idea! What Im using esp8266 for, is to control a strip of those ws2812b led lights, the chip will not need much energy, onl

by antocv 10y ago

That is so awesome, thanks for this idea! What Im using esp8266 for, is to control a strip of those ws2812b led lights, the chip will not need much energy, only sporadically to change light colors or on/off, so if I place that solar pad close to it - the led lights will charge the chip which controls them!

antoniuschan99 10y ago
I'm working on this part and you'll definitely need to implement deep sleep, but also measure voltage. Right now I'm using ESP.getVcc() but im not 100% that is correct. Basically once the battery packs voltage drop below ~2.5v the user should get a warning it needs a recharge (just as a failsafe even when using the solar pack). Also, I haven't tried to see, but also make sure the battery pack allows the esp to draw current when in deep sleep or it wont wake up :$.
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  I'm not sure you need to measure voltage on one of these power banks; they're made to charge phones over micro USB, so they will have a DC-DC transformer giving 5V all the way down to empty, I believe. Edit: also, I think the ESP8266 draws about 0.2W on average when it's on. If you have a 10 Wh battery, you can run it for 50 hours in theory. Would you then need deep sleep?
pjc50 10y ago
Why not just power it off whatever powers the lights?!
unwind 10y ago
But what is powering the LEDs? Why can't that power source also feed the relatively tiny amount (compared to a bunch of LEDs) needed by the controller?
- antocv 10y ago
  Right now the same power source, a simple adapter/transformer, is powering both. Thats the easy way, this solar pad way is just because it would be fun.
teraflop 10y ago
Bear in mind that solar cells are rated for the amount of power they provide in direct sunlight, and will generate much less under other lighting conditions. The human eye has a huge dynamic range; you might not realize just how well it compensates for differing amounts of illumination. Many indoor environments are 100 or even 1,000 times dimmer than outdoor direct sunlight.

by antocv 10y ago

antoniuschan99 10y ago

I'm working on this part and you'll definitely need to implement deep sleep, but also measure voltage. Right now I'm using ESP.getVcc() but im not 100% that is correct. Basically once the battery packs voltage drop below ~2.5v the user should get a warning it needs a recharge (just as a failsafe even when using the solar pack). Also, I haven't tried to see, but also make sure the battery pack allows the esp to draw current when in deep sleep or it wont wake up :$.

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
I'm not sure you need to measure voltage on one of these power banks; they're made to charge phones over micro USB, so they will have a DC-DC transformer giving 5V all the way down to empty, I believe. Edit: also, I think the ESP8266 draws about 0.2W on average when it's on. If you have a 10 Wh battery, you can run it for 50 hours in theory. Would you then need deep sleep?

pjc50 10y ago

Why not just power it off whatever powers the lights?!

unwind 10y ago

But what is powering the LEDs? Why can't that power source also feed the relatively tiny amount (compared to a bunch of LEDs) needed by the controller?

antocv 10y ago
Right now the same power source, a simple adapter/transformer, is powering both. Thats the easy way, this solar pad way is just because it would be fun.

teraflop 10y ago

Bear in mind that solar cells are rated for the amount of power they provide in direct sunlight, and will generate much less under other lighting conditions. The human eye has a huge dynamic range; you might not realize just how well it compensates for differing amounts of illumination. Many indoor environments are 100 or even 1,000 times dimmer than outdoor direct sunlight.