- Sat Sep 26, 2020 3:31 am
#88902
what ever you ment, with postulating a current draw of 600mA, you may misguide the user into totally worng conclusions after measuring the max possible current from the solarcells. over-and-out.
- Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:49 pm
#88917
Step up converters also work by converting current into voltage, so your problem becomes even worse when you're stepping up and drawing start up current.
You may be able to get over the initial current bump with a big capacitor but you're still going to have a significant current draw from the solar.
The other thing is, you would be a lot better off supplying the ESP unit with 3.3V - I think this was mentioned before. The Wemos D1 takes up to 5V but then immediately steps it down to 3.3V using a very inefficient LDO so you're wasting a TON of power there. If I remember correctly, you can use a 3.3V buck/boost onto the 3V3 pin and it will power the unit and completely bypass the LDO.
You could even try putting 3.3V onto the 5V pin - the LDO isn't very efficient but the ESP chip will run as low as 2.8V so you may find it works.
You may be able to get over the initial current bump with a big capacitor but you're still going to have a significant current draw from the solar.
The other thing is, you would be a lot better off supplying the ESP unit with 3.3V - I think this was mentioned before. The Wemos D1 takes up to 5V but then immediately steps it down to 3.3V using a very inefficient LDO so you're wasting a TON of power there. If I remember correctly, you can use a 3.3V buck/boost onto the 3V3 pin and it will power the unit and completely bypass the LDO.
You could even try putting 3.3V onto the 5V pin - the LDO isn't very efficient but the ESP chip will run as low as 2.8V so you may find it works.
