Hi
I have some 150mm x 150mm 8A mono-crystaline solar cells to play with
Am thinking that I ought to be able to build a 6/8 legged solar powered garden crawler based around a single cell
So am looking for a charging circuit that can start up at less than 0.5v & somehow make use of the full 8A from the cell

Not even sure if this is feasible - so any ideas/hints will be gratefully received

 

Hi
I have some 150mm x 150mm 8A mono-crystaline solar cells to play with
Am thinking that I ought to be able to build a 6/8 legged solar powered garden crawler based around a single cell
So am looking for a charging circuit that can start up at less than 0.5v & somehow make use of the full 8A from the cell

Not even sure if this is feasible - so any ideas/hints will be gratefully received

The general term for what you're describing is "energy harvesting" and if you search on that you'll find all manner of devices. I don't know if you'll find one capable of the wide range you describe. You'll have to choose one that can handle your peak power and then live with however low it can handle. The amount of power at that low end is a very small percentage of the overall power produced by the panel. So chasing a small, incremental boost in efficiency at the low end becomes increasingly difficult.
https://www.analog.com/en/products/power-management/energy-harvesting.html
https://www.mouser.com/applications/energy_harvesting/

 

Thanks - I'll have a read through