I'm working on a creating a project where my end goal is to create a stable 12V DC power source, primarily using a solar panel, but also having a battery as a "backup", since the sun may go behind a cloud and the solar panel will stop producing power for a few minutes.
This is commonly done by doing:
Solar panel -> Charge Controller -> 12V Battery -> 12V Load
but for my particular application, I don't want to be charging the battery, I want the battery to only be used as a source, and I also don't want the battery to be drawn upon if the solar panel is supplying enough power.
So basically my goal is something like:
If it is currently sunny:
Solar Panel (at around 17 Volts) -> Voltage Converter (Buck?) -> 12V Load
If it is not currently sunny (Solar Panel isn't producing enough power for the load):
Battery (I can be flexible with the battery design, but it could probably be 12+V for the same voltage converter to function) -> Voltage Converter (Buck?) -> 12V Load
So what I'm trying to figure out is how to design the circuit that can basically switch between the two current sources (solar panel and battery) based on if the solar panel is supplying enough current to meet the load's needs or not. Thanks.
This is commonly done by doing:
Solar panel -> Charge Controller -> 12V Battery -> 12V Load
but for my particular application, I don't want to be charging the battery, I want the battery to only be used as a source, and I also don't want the battery to be drawn upon if the solar panel is supplying enough power.
So basically my goal is something like:
If it is currently sunny:
Solar Panel (at around 17 Volts) -> Voltage Converter (Buck?) -> 12V Load
If it is not currently sunny (Solar Panel isn't producing enough power for the load):
Battery (I can be flexible with the battery design, but it could probably be 12+V for the same voltage converter to function) -> Voltage Converter (Buck?) -> 12V Load
So what I'm trying to figure out is how to design the circuit that can basically switch between the two current sources (solar panel and battery) based on if the solar panel is supplying enough current to meet the load's needs or not. Thanks.