Other Parts Discussed in Thread: BQ24210, , BQ24166
I am designing a sensor node running off a single cell Li-ion battery (1S1P). The battery should be chargeable from a solar panel and USB.
For everything solar the BQ24210 seems to be the go-to IC, because of it's MPPT-like ability to limit the current drawn from the solar panel when it drops beneath a certain threshold. The MCP73871 from Microchip seems to have a similar feature (proudly explained by Adafruit) and used to be my favorite choice because it also implements something like a Power Path, allowing the charger to reduce the charge/discharge cycles with a proper charge termination (so the claim). Whereas a the BQ24210 only charges the battery without knowing how the system load interferes with it. Am I correct so far?
But now I discovered the BQ24030 and the BQ2407x-family with exactly the same claim. Furthermore it reads "The DPPM circuit reduces the charge current when the input current limit causes the system output to fall to the DPPM threshold". Is that not just the same as the MPPT-like behavior of the BQ24210/MCP73871? If yes, what are the disadvantages against the much younger, and apparently more popular BQ24210?
For the BQ2407x this DPPM threshold is 4.3 V, while the DPM threshold is 4.5 V? That is a bit confusing.
And while I lean towards the BQ24030 (because of the dual input) what would be a good setting for this threshold to charge a standard INR18650 with a run-of-the-mill 5...6 V panel? A standard 39k resistor would give me almost 4.5 V, which should be pretty close to the maximum point of power.