I'm trying to create a solar power battery charger. I don't want to over-charge the batteries, so some type of charge controller is probably necessary. Here's what I have available right now:
* Four 1.2v rechargeable NiMH batteries (2650mAh), pretty standard.
* Four 4v/200mA solar cells
From what I've learned online I would need a low-voltage charge controller so I don't run the batteries down to v=0 or overcharge them. However, I have found surprisingly little information about where to find and how to use charge controllers. Is it possible to build a simple charge controller for this low-voltage application? Otherwise, do you know where I could find one?
The ultimate goal of this project is to use solar cells to charge batteries during the day, which will power LEDs at night. The light-deactuated part of the circuit is no problem, but the solar-battery charging component has perplexed me. Thanks in advance.
* Four 1.2v rechargeable NiMH batteries (2650mAh), pretty standard.
* Four 4v/200mA solar cells
From what I've learned online I would need a low-voltage charge controller so I don't run the batteries down to v=0 or overcharge them. However, I have found surprisingly little information about where to find and how to use charge controllers. Is it possible to build a simple charge controller for this low-voltage application? Otherwise, do you know where I could find one?
The ultimate goal of this project is to use solar cells to charge batteries during the day, which will power LEDs at night. The light-deactuated part of the circuit is no problem, but the solar-battery charging component has perplexed me. Thanks in advance.