Solar Power Project — Overview

Small off-grid solar charger using any 6-24 V panel array (up to 3.5A total), the Waveshare Solar Power Manager

The Waveshare Solar Power Manager handles Li-ion charging, status LEDs, and step-down rails.

(handles Li-ion charging, protections and indicators), and a single 18650 Cell (or small protected pack). Local controller: Raspberry Pi Pico

A low-cost microcontroller board from Raspberry Pi, based on the RP2040 dual-core ARM Cortex-M0+ chip.

, ESP32

A low-cost, low-power system on a chip (SoC) with integrated Wi-Fi and dual-mode Bluetooth.

or any other microcontroller.

Goals

• Safe Li-ion Charging
• Reliable outdoor deployment (IP-rated enclosure, fuses, proper wiring)
• Simple power for controllers and actuators (5 V / 3.3 V rails)

Warnings

• Li-ion cells can catch fire if abused. Use protected cells or a protection PCB and fuses.
• Ensure PV open-circuit voltage (Voc) ≤ 24 V for the Waveshare board.

Quick links: BOM • Schematics • Wiring • Testing • Firmware