How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

RE: How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

user116931 — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 07:59:18 GMT

Hi everyone,

I see Nowi has a solution for this, see https://www.nowi-energy.com/thingy91/

It seems the designs are available on request.

- Torje

RE: How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

user17999 — Fri, 13 May 2022 17:46:13 GMT

Hello I know it is an old thread but, did you have any luck connecting a solar panel output to the 5VBus? how does the thingy behave with the voltage fluctuations because of the light intensity changes? in theory, it should just work because you were replacing the 5V from USB to a different source in this case a solar panel that has to be within PMIC operational voltage range 4~6.7v

Regards,
Arepa

RE: How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

ketiljo — Mon, 31 May 2021 09:13:30 GMT

None of this is supported on the Thingy91 so you must implement that yourself.

May better to use a solar charger with USB output

RE: How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

user92259 — Sun, 30 May 2021 22:23:21 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for that insight. Can you recommend any solar panel that can provide ~5V to the Vbus ? How is it normally implemented in the Thingy91 ?

Also, I wanted to know how would it be possible to see on the software side if the solar panel is charging the battery or not ?

Regards,

Adeel.

RE: How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

ketiljo — Wed, 26 May 2021 14:25:52 GMT

You need to make sure the solar panel can supply ~5 V if you connect it to VBUS like this. Or use a different charging circuit that is designed to handle input from a solar panel. It will not work just by connecting the solar panel directly to the USB input like this.

RE: How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

user92259 — Wed, 26 May 2021 14:20:39 GMT

Hi Martin,

The video was insightful, however I have doubts while using Nordic Thingy91.

I wanted to know if my connections of my Solar panel to the Thingy91 is okay and how can I figure out if it works ?

I tried to keep the board outside in a sunny environment and measured the battery voltage, but it did not change and kept decreasing. I was hoping that the solar panel can charge up the battery when outside. Is there a way to also look at the charging through solar panel from a software perspective ?

Regards,

Adeel.

RE: How to check if a solar panel can charge a Thingy91

user66115 — Tue, 25 May 2021 12:44:37 GMT

Hi Adeel,
Please check out the following webinar:
https://webinars.nordicsemi.com/how-to-power-your-cellular-iot-4