Hi,
I'm working on project which includes INA219 for sensing solar panel voltage and current. I have found other threads discussing on this matter but couldn't get answer I'm looking for. Instead of using any battery, I'm only looking to calculate current and Voltage from solar panel using INA219. As i know connections and read all forums related to this topic, I'm unsure how to connect Vin- to load. Should i use resistor as load to calculate current or can i bypass it by directly connecting Vin- to solar panel.
My solar panel typical Voltage is 5.5V whereas typical current is 170mA. I'm not charging any battery so unsure what type of load to use as I only need to calculate power at end through sensing voltage and current.
Thanks

 

Hello there
Have you tried the datasheet or white papers from Texas instruments.
I believe this tells you exactly how to hook up
Vin+ & Vin- .


https://www.ti.com/product/INA219

 

Unless this is a project where you are required to design/build the solution – one of these will do everything you want and more.

All you have to do is modify your device connections such that a USB connector is used for the power to accommodate the device.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LCD-Disp...436912?hash=item2cdda98af0:g:aY0AAOSwDX9bzU0b

 

You can buy the INA219 mounted on a small PCB which includes a current sense resistor (0.1 ohm.), I2C pull up resistors and decoupling capacitors. This is one example of this type of module sold on ebay. I have used a number of them to monitor battery charging. They also calculate the power so you don't even have to do that in your software. I use a PIC12F1840 to read the I2C data and convert it to ASCII text strings which are displayed on a PC via a serial to USB converter. ( (FT232RL)

Les.