Patent ID: 11942815
Assignee: GEOTAB INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 10:
11. An electronic device, comprising
a controller;
a memory coupled to the controller;
a plurality of peripherals;
a solar panel coupled to the controller, the memory, and the plurality of peripherals;
a rechargeable battery coupled to the controller, to the memory, to the plurality of peripherals, and to the solar panel;
a power management subsystem coupled to the solar panel and to the rechargeable battery, the power management subsystem including a voltage sensor connected with a negative terminal of the solar panel and a solar panel bottom switch connected with the negative terminal of the solar panel;
the memory storing machine-executable programming instructions which configure the electronic device to:
determine whether the solar panel is connected at a negative terminal thereof to a ground terminal via the solar panel bottom switch;
in response to determining that the solar panel is connected at the negative terminal thereof to the ground terminal, disconnect the negative terminal from the ground terminal;
read a voltage at the negative terminal of the solar panel; and
in response to determining, based on the voltage, that the solar panel is generating sufficient electrical energy to power at least some of the plurality of peripherals:
connect the negative terminal of the solar panel with the ground terminal.