Combined Solar Mintyboost and Boombox Question

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safeness
 
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Combined Solar Mintyboost and Boombox Question

Post by safeness »

First of all, I combined the solar mintyboost kit and the boombox bag together and it works great. Thanks for the awesome kits!

The solar panel I'm using is the 3.4W and I have the 2500mAh battery and accidentally ordered the 1200mAh one as well. So If I'm charging my phone at 2.5W and running the boombox at 3.7W for a total of 6.2W, I'm running at a deficit of 2.8W assuming I'm in full sun. This gives me around 3.3-3.75 hours in full sun.

I was hoping to improve this a bit, and thought I could get a second solar panel and charger for the smaller battery to run the mintyboost. Is this just silly? Should I just get a bigger battery and not worry about it?

Thanks!

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Combined Solar Mintyboost and Boombox Question

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Don't forget to factor in the conversion efficiency for both charging and boosting. This is typically in the 80-90% range. All together, you are really looking at closer to 3.5w from the panel to charge your phone via the battery. I think you may need a second panel.

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safeness
 
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Re: Combined Solar Mintyboost and Boombox Question

Post by safeness »

Can I put a second one in parallel?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Combined Solar Mintyboost and Boombox Question

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Generally not recommended. You can add blocking diodes to prevent reverse current if one panel is shaded or their output is mismatched. But the diode voltage drop further cuts back on the energy you can get from the panels.

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safeness
 
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Re: Combined Solar Mintyboost and Boombox Question

Post by safeness »

Ah, is that what the note on the lipo charger about no diode protection was talking about?

I bought the panel, charger, and battery btw. Thanks for the help!

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