Solar Charge System for Supercapacitors
Supercapacitors still seem slightly futuristic to me. Such huge pockets of energy density in such a small form factor is an exciting proposition for all manner of projects. If you are creating some kind of remotely installed system then solar charging with supercapacitor reservoirs becomes an attractive solution, and the AEMSUCA module makes this simple to add to any project.
The tiny 15mm x 20mm board is terminated with 0.1″ header pins as well as castellated vias meaning it’s both breadboard-friendly and can be added as an SMD module into larger systems. On board is the AEM10941 solar harvesting IC from E-Peas which handles the efficient charging. You need to add two supercapacitors in series as the energy storage bank and the unit has two regulated outputs at 3.3V and 1.8V.
There are lots of nice features in this system. It uses Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) running every 5 seconds and has really low startup with everything coming online at 380mV/3uW. There is a status output pin that can be used to pre-warn a host project MCU that the power system is low or about to go offline. The AEMSUCA is so efficient that it will even run pretty well on indoor lighting.
The module is supplied fully assembled and tested and comes with some header pins should you wish to fit them. If supercapacitors don’t quite fit your intended project, take a look around Jasper’s store as they provide similar modules aimed at Li-ion batteries and Li-ion capacitors. Finally, the product page is worth a read as it’s a great primer on considering solar charging supercapacitors!