I like the idea of connecting LiPo direct to the dev board and reading the battery voltage … but what about charging the LiPo from a solar panel ?
My 5V solar panel is regulated, so it outputs a constant 5V - albeit at a ridiculously low current unless there’s strong sunlight directly on the panel - so can I connect it to the 5V IN pin ?
Or will I need an extra module ? I currently use a Sunflower: Solar Power Manager 5V (SKU: DFR0559) connected to USB of a regular ESP32-S3 board, and there’s no point changing if i will have to continue with the DFR0559.
What about the Solar Lipo Charger (3.7V) DFR0264 ?
Update: Unexpected Maker has confirmed that no solar panel (even one with a regulator) should be connected direct to the FeatherS3’s 5V pin … so an external solar power manager is still required. The SPM can be connected to the BAT connector … however the FeatherS3 will be reading the SPM’s regulated output, and not the Battery voltage.
FYI: I note that DFRobot’s Firebeetle 2 ESP32-C6 and ESP32-C5 boards do connect a 5V solar panel direct to the Firebeetle 2 board.
Generally, you are always going to need a SPM for solar power. Solar Panels are just way too inconsistent to output directly to a microcontroller without a lot of circuitry set up for it.
If DFRobot have designed one of their boards to have that circuitry to handle solar panel input, then perhaps it will work, but honestly I am skeptical about using it that way.
I do agree with your caution about connecting a solar panel … but it seems such an obvious use case.
FYI… according to DFRobot’s wiki, their ESP32 C5 and C6 Firebeetle 2 boards (which Core sells)(and only those 2 dev boards) include the solar management chip used in their Solar Power Management module.
The wiki for the C6 board mentions a CN3165: Solar management chip; and the C5 board wiki claims “Adopts the same solar power management chip as their Solar Power Management Module 5V@1A”.
Unfortunately (being a software person) I prefer to leave plenty of “wriggle room” by spending a few extra dollars to overkill the hardware and use the ESP32-S3 N16R8 - so I’ll give these particular boards a pass.
