HardLabs

Solar monitor

mattrude·solar-monitor·KiCAD/Solar_Monitor.kicad_pcb

Solar monitor PCB layout, top view — open source PIC board by mattrude

About the Solar monitor PCB

Solar monitor is an open source PIC PCB design by mattrude, published on GitHub under the MIT license. It is a 2-layer board measuring 40.6 × 22.9 mm, with 9 components from 9 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the PIC16F15214-I/P, from the PIC family. By type, the board carries 2 transistors, 2 connectors, 1 IC, 1 switch, 1 diode and 1 capacitor.

It belongs with the power & battery designs in this gallery.

From the project

A simple solution to prevent a solar powered LoRaWAN gateway from going into brownout when the batteries drop in voltage.

A simple solution to prevent a solar powered LoRaWAN gateway from going into brownout when the batteries drop in voltages.

I have a solar powered Raspberry Pi + RAK2245 + RAK2013 that has a problem where when it gets cold out, the batteries don't have the Amps to power the gateway when the sun comes up. This puts the gateway into a brownout state where the cellular module disconnects and will not reconnect until the system is rebooted.

Solar monitor, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Solar monitor

PIC16F15214-I/P

Solar monitor bill of materials (BOM)

9 components, 9 distinct parts.

QtyPartRefs
1
PIC16F15214-I/P
U1
1
PN2222A
Q1
1
MCP102-300E/TO
Q2
1
Power IN
J1
1
Power Out
J2
1
10K
RV1
1
SW_Push
SW1
1
1N914
D1
1
10pF
C1

Solar monitor design files

The KiCad project lives in the mattrude/solar-monitor repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Solar monitor: common questions

What microcontroller does the Solar monitor use?

The Solar monitor is built around the PIC16F15214-I/P, from the PIC family.

How big is the Solar monitor PCB?

The Solar monitor measures 40.6 × 22.9 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Solar monitor?

9 components, from 9 distinct parts. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Solar monitor design files?

From the mattrude/solar-monitor repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout and the schematic; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Solar monitor design in my own project?

Yes, under the terms of its MIT license, which mattrude chose for the repository.

Can I test firmware for the Solar monitor without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug PIC firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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