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I'm in the process of building a solar powered remote controlled airplane. My general idea was that I have 5V from the solar panels powering the receiver, the ESC, two servos and a brushless motor. If the voltage of the solar cells falls beneeth 3.7V, my 1S-LiPo-battery takes over.

For this I found the «Mini Solar/Lipo Charger v1.0» from Elecrow which apparently exactly does the trick of being a switch and at the same time charging the LiPo with the power from the solar cell input.

So before I start to tab all solar panels I wanted to do a test run and see if all my chosen components get enough power with the 3.7V-LiPo.

After I hooked everything together and as a last step plugged in the LiPo at the LiPo-socket on the Elecrow-Board, the board smoked :-(

I don't know exactly where to start to find out what I'm doing wrong.

I attached a picture of my setup (without the solar cells).

Thank you very much for you help!

Setup of components used for solar powered rc airplane

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2 Answers 2

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In addition to what Dave mentioned, you currently have your positive line from your ESC hooked to the negative output of your charge controller, another possible reason the board smoked.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Oh boy! You're right, thanks! I screwed up there. I just looked at the cable colors and assumed I have them in order. \$\endgroup\$
    – M-832
    Commented Jun 10, 2019 at 13:10
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Right on the page you linked, it says:

Charge and discharge can not be greater than 1A, otherwise it will burn the components

Clearly, this board was designed for low-power sensor applications, not high-power electric airplanes.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you, Dave. I was aware of that during the design and I felt it was sufficient. The LiPo I'm using delivers 350mAh at 3.7V, so therefore I should only stress the board with 0.35A, or am I getting this wrong? \$\endgroup\$
    – M-832
    Commented Jun 10, 2019 at 13:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ The battery might be rated at 350 mA, but that does NOT mean that it will automatically limit the current to that value. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dave Tweed
    Commented Jun 10, 2019 at 13:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ You're right, Dave. I just took a closer look at my LiPo. It's a 30/60C, 3.7V with 250mAh. So if I calculate this correctly it outputs 7.5A (and 15A when bursting)... That would explain why it fried the board. \$\endgroup\$
    – M-832
    Commented Jun 10, 2019 at 13:25

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