Hello everyone,
I’m looking for a way to power an environmental sensor using solar power. My project is currently built around an arduino pro mini 3.3V 8MHz. For a previous use of the project, I needed to power it using a 5V power source because I also was powering a 5V sensor.
Nowadays, I only need to power an ultrasonic sensor requiring between 2.5 and 5V to function. So, I would like to power my board (or any other future board) with only 3.3V so it will consume less current (autonomy is a big issue here). I know that Voltage (V) and Current (A) (sorry if it’s not the right term, english is not my native language) are not the same thing but I saw on Nick Gammon’s forum (https://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11497) that reducing the tension used to power the board has an impact on its current draw aswell.
Anyway, for the previous use of the board, I used a Lipo rider pro to power it and charge batteries using a solar panel. However, the Lipo rider pro can’t power the board with less than 5V tension. So I was wondering if I could hack a little bit the Lipo Rider plus by powering it using a solar panel and this kind of DC/DC converter : https://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11497
I would wire the solar panel to the converter, then plus the UBS-C plug of the converter in the Rider Plus. In such a case, I would then be able to power my board with the Rider Plus and the desired tension.
I guess it’s possible but I’d like to be assured that it shouldn’t create any problems.
Thank you all in advance for your answers,
Best regards,
NilsRiver