PV Solar

Electronics Hardware

LT8490 MPPT Buck-Boost Multi-Chemistry Battery Charger

September 4, 2019 Craig Peacock 4

Most PV solar regulators are buck (step down) regulators and require the PV panel voltage to be above the battery voltage. This design uses a buck-boost topology and allows the PV solar voltage to be above, below or equal to the battery voltage. For example, you could charge a 48V battery bank from a 72 cell PV panel with a maximum power point voltage (VMP) of around 37V. The LT8490 allows for a PV panel voltage in the range of 6V to 80V. This makes it ideal for commodity 72 cell PV panels that typically have an open-circuit voltage (VOC) …

Electronics Hardware

Review: BQ24650 5A MPPT Solar Controller 3S / 4S Li-Ion, LiFePO4, 12V Lead Acid

July 7, 2019 Craig Peacock 24

Designs based on the Texas Instrument’s bq24650 Synchronous Switch-Mode Battery Charge Controller for Solar Power With Maximum Power Point Tracking are commonplace on Aliexpress, ebay and Amazon. Consumers can purchase assembled PCBs, such as the one pictured above, or complete product enclosed in a relatively nice aluminium extruded housing. According to the silkscreen of versions pictured on-line, different variants are available including: 3S Li-Ion 4S Li-Ion 4S LiFePo4 12V Lead Acid I’m still old-school and wanted to purchase a 12V lead acid version, but couldn’t find any available for sale. And like many similar electronics products from the above mentioned …