Electronic – Increasing the Voltage Output of a Solar Cell

chargersolar cellvoltage

I'm working on a project where I'm going to charge a battery using a solar cell. The cell is capable of outputting a maximum of 4 A, but only 0.5 volts (2W).

My question is, how can I charge the battery with only one cell? I understand I'll have to step up the voltage in some way, but I'm not sure how. I read that I can use boost converters, but don't these need a steady voltage for them to work properly? The solar cell probably won't be outputting its max voltage output all the time.

Ideally, I can regulate the voltage output of the cell to something like 2.4 volts (a single battery is rated at 1.2 volts).

Best Answer

There are a few boost controllers that run down that low, but in general it's better to have a higher voltage to start with. 0.5V at full tilt is really low, presumably it's designed to be stacked to get a usable voltage.

Here's an example of one of the very low input voltage boost converters. Of course this one doesn't do much current, so it doesn't really fit the bill...