Can I charge a AA battery with this solar panel - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: solarbatteries
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 12:21:54 pm
content: These are the specifications5.5V 0.66W 120mAHow much can i chargelinkhttps://banggood.app.link/oSWVMaClAV

author: Ysjoelfir
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 02:18:26 pm
content: No, you can't* recharge batteries.If you want to charge an accumulator, yes, you indeed could use this solar panel to power a suitable charging circuit. But it would be slow as hell I guess...*you can, but not very often. Also, this is usually not covered by any manufacturer.

author: grifftech
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 02:40:40 pm
content: yes, just use a nimh charge controler and nimh batteries

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 02:59:51 pm
content: Quote from: Ysjoelfir on April 03, 2019, 02:18:26 pmThere appears to be a language barrier. In modern English, the word battery applies to both the rechargeable (secondary) and non-rechargeable (primary) type. The word accumulator is no longer used to describe a rechargeable battery. I've only seen it used in that context in really old documents.To answer the original question: yes, but at that current output, it needs to be monitored, to avoid overcharging.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 03:25:18 pm
content: <pedant> Single cells are *NOT* batteries. A battery is a series connected bank of cells. </pedant>However the English language continues to evolve and the level of education of English as a first language speakers continues to decline, so we are loosing the cell vs battery distinction just as we have lost the accumulator vs battery distinction.Back to the O.P's problem, yes that panel could charge a series battery of 2x AA cells. A Schottky diode to prevent reverse leakage back through the panel would be advisable. At 150mA peak output current, unless you put the panel on a solar tracker, I estimate it would take about four sunny days to fully charge a pair of 2200mAH NiMH cells.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 03:33:18 pm
content: Google for a usb powered battery charger.Then simply connect the output of the solar panel to the usb jack of the battery charger.Here's examples:https://www.amazon.com/Honmofun-Charger-Rechargeable-Battery-Batteries/dp/B07BK9WZVJ/https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Powered-Battery-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B0054LBRJI/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=AA+battery+charger+usb&qid=1554305051&s=gateway&sr=8-11If you want to make your own charging circuit, there's plenty of chips which can charge anything between 1 and 10 batteries, in series.You could charge with a simple linear regulator or switching regulator and a microcontroller ... simply measure the voltage across a resistor to measure the charging current and when the battery no longer takes in a significant amount of current stop charging it. There's linear regulators with enable pins, so a microcontroller could simply stop the regulator when the battery is full.See this for how you would charge a NiMH battery :https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_nickel_metal_hydride

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 04:21:48 pm
content: Quote from: Ian.M on April 03, 2019, 03:25:18 pmWhile this is true, single cells such as AA, C, D, etc have been known colloquially as "batteries" for many decades now so I think it's not inappropriate to refer to them as such.

author: solarbatteries
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 04:35:05 pm
content: Can i use a blocking diode like in this project?https://www.instructables.com/id/4-Solar-Battery-Charger/