Solar Charger Project

Introduction | This project was done in fullfillment of the requirments for Walla Walla University's Power Electronics class (ENGR 460) taught by Dr. Rob Frohne. I chose to use Texas Instruments' BQ24650 integrated circuit as the voltage regular between a 11V solar panel and 2s 7.4V lipo. The aim was for the solar panel to charge the lipo battery at 0.5A so as to charge the battery at a standard pace while keeping the pace slow enough that the battery would not be damaged. For more details on the theory used by the charger IC, design specifications, user manual, and more - please reference the Wiki.

Navigation |This repository has content in the Code, Issues, and Wiki tabs.The Code section has 1 primary folder - "Solar-Charger" which contains two other folders, "Documentation" and "Kicad". The documentation folder contains stepping stone write ups and research on topics related to the issue as well as my power point presentation on the project. The Kicad folder contains the kicad files, revisions 1 and 2. Note the revisions when you are referencing them. The Wiki page contains the bulk of the documentation for this project which includes, but is not limited to the results, pcb and schematic design motives, specifiations, and objectives for the project.

Credits | This project was chosen and directed by myself. However, I had professional support from my professor Dr. Rob Frohne as well as assistance from the application engineeers at texas instruments.

Project Status | At the current time, the project does not fully work. While the charger circuit does not have any fried or damaged components, it does not charge the lipo battery. The STAT 1 LED turns on, indicating "charging in progress", but no charging has taken place from what I could deduce. See the Issues page for updates on current bugs.

REV 1: 05/26/2020 Build and Test Stage PART 1 | REV 2: 06/09/2020 Buil and Test Stage PART 2

page created by jordyn watkins | greenjacketgirl