Solar Powering Unit For Arduino

The solar powering unit presented here is energy efficient. When we talk about Arduino, it consumes lots of energy in displays and other work that are not important. The solar powering unit presented here has a timer which turns on the Arduino in regular intervals. When you have a project like weather station, remote data logger, etc. or applications like this, you do not have to keep your Arduino on all the time. And of course in all this applications, powering is the major issue. If you turn on the Arduino in 1 minute or any interval, it can save a lot energy. This unit is variable i.e. you can decide the time delay! The unit can also power your Arduino when there is no sunlight (at night) as it has a rechargeable battery inside.

The unit consists of two solar panels, one is for the timer circuit and another is for output. The timer circuit contains an Arduino which is converted into a variable timer with the help of code. It is connected to relay module. The unit also consists of rechargeable cells which are charged by solar panel. When you want to use power from them, you need to just toggle the switch.

Battery Life Calculation:

• Arduino ON time: 5 seconds

• Arduino OFF time: 5 min. = 300 seconds

• Ioff: 0.8mA

• Ion: 9.5mA

• Operating Voltage: 5V

• I(avg): 2mA

• P(avg): 5 x 2 = 10mW

• Li-Ion Battery: 2100mAh

• Battery Voltage: 2.4V

• Power: 2100 x 2.4 = 5040mWh

• Battery Life: 5040/10 = 504 Hours = 21 Days

Note: Power consumed by power booster is not calculated here.

Thus, timer circuit saves a lot energy and also saves energy by cutting power of sensors, displays, etc. In sleep mode, the power consumed by ATMEL micro controller will reduce.