Help-High School Project- Energy Harvester

Adam Cooke

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: BQ24090, BQ25040, TPS61200, BQ24090EVM, BQ25040EVM

Hi, I hope I have come to the right place for help! I am not sure if this is the right forum for this, so please let me know if its the wrong place.

I am doing a school project where I hope to build an energy harvester that can power a small electronic device. I would like to build something that uses a few solar cells, converts that energy into electrical power and stores it in a battery, capacitor, etc for later use. I would then like to use this stored energy to power a charge a small electronic, such as an mp3 player ( a small one).

My question is: is this possible? If so, can someone point me in the right direction of how I would do this? (parts I would need, etc). I dont have much circuit experience but I am in contact with a local EE that is willing to help.

Thanks!

over 14 years ago

0 Chris Glaser over 14 years ago

TI__Guru**** 150950 points

Yes, this is possible. This app note is a good guide to a basic architecture for getting the power out of the solar cells: http://focus.ti.com/lit/an/slva345a/slva345a.pdf

You would then take the output of the TPS61200 and put it into a battery charger, such as the bq24090 or bq25040. The battery and load would be connected to the output of the charger.

We make EVMs for almost all of our parts, so I encourage you to order the EVMs and play around with them to generate your solution.

0 Adam Cooke over 14 years ago in reply to Chris Glaser

Prodigy 110 points

Thank you so much for your help! I ordered the parts you suggested and I should be getting them today.

Any suggestions on a good solar cell that will work best with the TPS61200? Keep in mind I am trying to harvest enough power to charge something like an mp3 player.

Thanks again!

0 Daniel Acevedo over 14 years ago in reply to Adam Cooke

TI__Genius 17240 points

As described in the SLVA345a app note, the solar cell selection depends on what type of light it you will be using it with and how much power you need. For sunlight, a crystalline silicon solar cell is recommended. Since you are using the TPS61200 to charge an MP3 player's battery, something like the Arbor Scientific P6-7201 will work.

0 Adam Cooke over 14 years ago in reply to Daniel Acevedo

Prodigy 110 points

Thanks again for the help. I will definitely look into the Arbor Scientific P6-7201.

Do you know if there are any user kits of demo kits available that use the TPS61200 or something similar? I am trying to keep myself from having to build a circuit board (or multiple, assuming the first doesnt work).

0 Daniel Acevedo over 14 years ago in reply to Adam Cooke

TI__Genius 17240 points

Look for the evaluation module under "Tools & software" on the TPS61200 product folder. Here's the direct link to the EVM, TPS61200EVM-179 Evaluation Module.

0 Adam Cooke over 14 years ago in reply to Daniel Acevedo

Prodigy 110 points

As suggested, I ordered the samples of the bq24090 and bq25040. Do I need to order the EVMs for those as well..?

0 Daniel Acevedo over 14 years ago in reply to Adam Cooke

TI__Genius 17240 points

Adam,

You only need to order either the BQ24090EVM or the BQ25040EVM since they perform the same function with different features. Also, be sure and download the user's guide (and datasheet) for any EVMs you order: BQ24090EVM, BQ25040EVM and TPS61200EVM.

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Help-High School Project- Energy Harvester