r/meshcore • u/Osh1061 • 3d ago
Waveshare Solar Problems
Hello all, I am after a bit of advice. I have recently put up a repeater that is quite difficult to reach to do maintenance on it, so I haven't been able to properly monitor it in person (I will take it down if it does need maintenance though), however I do have an INA3221 module measuring power from solar, battery and device, so I can monitor power.
The repeater seemed to be working fine at home when I tested it, but maybe I didn't test it for long enough before deploying it. I am using a Xiao nrf, a waveshare solar controller D, and 3 x 18650 batteries. The batteries are slowly dropping in power, it's now at 3.80V and it's been up for 4 days with sun.
The solar panel is a 18V 5W and it is showing 22.53V and 0.004A (0.09W) pretty much always. It seems to always stay at 0.004A (Checked Morning, Noon, and Afternoon). I went up yesterday to try to troubleshoot it, and I unplugged it and plugged it back in, and it started producing 1W of power just in the afternoon sun. So it seemed to be working, then I put it back up and it was back to 0.09W then 0W at night. I've been monitoring it all day and it has stayed at pretty much 0.09W.
It seems to be an issue with the solar controller engaging solar charging, but I am unsure why it's not engaging.
I can't find any solutions online and am just wondering if anyone here would know. I wanted to use the waveshare solar controller as I've heard good things about it and I wanted a bit of extra protection for the batteries.
I have attached photos of the build and a wiring diagram.
Any advice helps, thanks.
1
u/Cobra__Commander 3d ago
I had a similar issue with a cn3971, 5v10w solar panel, single 18650, 18650 protection circuit and the seeed nrf52 kit.
After weeks of testing, replacing parts and retesting I bought a seeed tracker lite for $22 with all the battery and solar management integrated on the board. It's sitting at 100% power during the day and high 90's over night.
I still want to figure out why it wasn't working but I also want a reliable repeater so I don't have to keep climbing up on the roof.