Try EasyEDA, the free PCB design tool: https://easyeda.com
PWM5 schematic and firmware are here: http://256.uk/?page_id=68
It's time to re-design the PWM5 solar charge controller to use all surface mount components. It's also time to draw a proper schematic and PCB layout. I'll be using EasyEDA free schematic and PCB software.
PWM5 schematic and firmware are here: http://256.uk/?page_id=68
It's time to re-design the PWM5 solar charge controller to use all surface mount components. It's also time to draw a proper schematic and PCB layout. I'll be using EasyEDA free schematic and PCB software.
Great design
Hello do you have anymore PWM5 solar charge controllers? I would like to purchase 2 . I do not know how to make circuit boards or how to read circuit schematics. Please let me know if you have any for sale. I am in USA
I bought one of these years ago and it still works flawlessly. Thank you very much.
Instead of a diode, why not just use a mosfet with the gate tied to the source? Easy peasy. Then the source and drain function exactly like the anode and cathode of a diode. When reverse biased, the mosfet will be pulled the wrong direction turning off the mosfet. Since it wouldn't be functioning in the linear region, the built in heat spreader should be good enough as there are mosfet choices with very low Rds(On).
Heat may be an issue if you are powering things off of your 'diode', but dealing with the relatively meager current dealing with charge regulation, you have plenty of headroom. You would need a lot of solar generation to overheat a mosfet turned fully on.
Were can i get some of them droples dioeds from what thay called?
is there any possibility to migrate this to any micro controller which can be programmed using arduino IDE?
Use KiCad for design work. I've even had the tech's at Digikey tell me to NOT use their software EDA and stick with KiCad. There's a learning curve but you will also find components on Digikey which you can download 15 parts a month with footprints and there are so many people with personal libraries they are sharing.
still have and use the 2 PWM5 i had off you years ago good bit of kit well small and handy.
I live in Poland and I can't visit your website
any chances to get this controller online
What is the additional cost per unit to just add the ideal output diode to all of the units? It might be easier to just do it rather than to stock different SKUs and all. If it a power drain perhaps include a bypass switch to turn it off and bypass it. Or is it a significant point of failure?
Can you TH a few of the most-likely-to-fail parts to make these easily repairable?
For something to explode in the Open Source community it helps to have a modular product. People tweak portions and customize to their needs, enriching all the other user’s applications. To wit…
To get more Amps, can one use as many of these in parallel as they wish, or would the SoC feedback start a dueling SoC oscillation? If it is not wise that they be used in parallel then I’d like to see the inductor portion made to be modular. IOW what if you had one MPPT brain unit that had an output to run as many inductor boards as one wanted. Say the MPPT brain had an output socket that one could slide a parallel inductor board in to. One could then purchase as many of these as they needed, or someone could develop a 30A board to run off of the same brain. The same inductor boards could then be used for brain units programmed to charge LiPO4s or any other chemistry. If you wanted to get fancy, each additional board could read the PWM from the input, but then change the specific timing to reduce the number of inductors charging at the same time. Make the entire package DIN rail mountable using the rail to heat sink anything that might get warm, and you have a great system that’ll grow with the user’s setup.
There might even become a cottage industry of making adapters to use the PWM5 brain output (and future variants) as a switch for inductors in old, dumb, but well made charge controllers.
This might all serve as fodder for later Open Source tinkerers, but at any rate I hope you can incorporate some output pins to invite the innovation.
Hi Julian. Did you ever develop a surface mount pcb in easy pcb, created the from the schematic? Plus make a video on how it's done?
Fantastic videos, big fan 👍🏻
Are your published link actually right?
These low power stuff (<200W) don't need fancy switching and chargers, A voltage divider+ comparator + Mosfet and that's it. When the battery voltage is bellow 13.5V, the comparator turns the mosfet on and the solar panel(s) are connected to the battery, then when that voltage is reached, it turns off the mosfet. No drama. Cheap and uncomplicated.
I would build in adjustable battery voltage cut out, 13.5 volts may be a bit low for some lead acid batteries.