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HackinganLEDsolargardenlight

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onNov14,2014

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HackinganLEDsolargardenlight.
Youcanfilethisblogentryunderexploringinterestingbitsofelectronicshiddenineverydayhousehold
itemsmuchlikethesetwopreviousentrieson usingcoincellbatteriesand flickeringLEDcandles.
SolarrechargeableLEDgardenorpathwaystakelightshavebecomeveryinexpensiveandcommon
place.Lookingfromtheoutside,theygenerallyconsistofasmallsolarpaneltochargeabatteryanda
highbrightnesswhiteLED.Atypicalmostinexpensiveexample,asshowninfigure1,costsaslittleas
$1.00butmaybeupto$2.00each.

Figure1,TypicalsolarLEDlight
TheLEDcomesonwhenitgetsdarkandthesolarpanelisnolongerabletochargethebattery,so
therehastobesomesortofcontrolcircuitinsidetodothis.InsidetheexampleIdeconstructedwasa
single1.25volt100mAhAAANiCdcellandasmallPCBwiththeLED,a220uHinductor,andafour
pinvoltageboostingintegratedcircuitmarkedYX8018.Thecompletecircuitisshowninfigure2.

Figure2.solargardenlightcircuit
TheYX8018comesina4pintransistorstyleTO94packageandthepinconfigurationisshownhere:

TheYX8018ismoreorlessjustagatedoscillatorwhichrunsatapproximately200KHzdrivinganopen
drainNMOSswitch(outputonpin1).Thecircuitpulsesthesmallinductortostepupthevoltageto
drivetheLEDinasimilarwayasaJouleThiefcircuit .TheuseofasingleAAANiCdrechargeablecell
keepsthecostdown.Whichalsomeansthesolarpanelcanbeacheaperlowvoltageversion.The3
cmx3cmonefromthisexamplegenerated2.7voltsinfullsunlightwithashortcircuitcurrentof17mA.
ToreducethecomponentcounttheapplicationoftheYX8108chipisratheringenious.Theyusethe
internalESDdiodebetweentheCE(chipenable)inputandgroundforchargingtheNiCdcellfromthe
solarpanel,butalsousethevoltage(orlackthereof)fromthesolarpaneltodetectwhenitisdark
enoughtoturntheLEDon.TheCEinputincludesasmallpullupcurrent.Imeasuredabout30uAwith
1.25voltsonVDD.Thissmallcurrentwillpullpin3highgatingontheoscillatorifthesolarpanelisnot
generatingmorethan30uAofcurrent.AnalternativemethodofcontrollingtheCEinputshowninthe
datasheetistousealightdependentresistorCdSphotocellbetweenCEandGND.
Sothatsallthereistothisgardenlight,butwhatelsecanwedowiththesepartstolearnabout
electronics?Well,asintheseLabactivities,wecanlearnabouttheCharacteristicsofPhotovoltaicSolar
Cells ,theDiodecurrentvs.voltage curvesofthewhiteLED,andthecharacteristicsofthe
rechargeableAAANiCdcell .InadditionwecanlearnmoreaboutinductorbasedDCDCConverters

bybuildingvariousconfigurationsaroundtheYX8018chip.Someofthefollowingisfromthefigures
inthedatasheetoftheYX8018,othersareonesIvecomeupwith.Notethatinmostoftheseexamples
IveomittedthesolarpanelandleavetheCEpinfloatingforcontinuousoperation.
Infigure2thecurrentpulsesfromtheinductorreturntothebatterythroughtheLEDtothegroundside
ofthebattery.WecanalsoconnecttheLEDacrosstheinductorsothattheinductorcurrentreturns
directlytotheinductorasshowninfigure3.

Figure3AlternatewaytoconnecttheLED
Thebasicconfigurationsinfigures2and3drivetheLEDwithpulsesofcurrentattheoscillator
frequency.Thisisfinebecausethefrequencyiswayaboveanythingtheeyecanperceiveasflicker.We
canrectifyandfilterthesepulsesintoaDCvoltagetodrivetheLEDasshowninfigure4.Rectifying
diodeD1canbeastandarddiodesuchasa1N914butamoreefficientchoicefortheselowvoltages
wouldbeaSchottkydiode.Atthesehighfrequencies,filtercapacitorC1doesnotneedtobeverylarge,
a0.1uFor1.0uFvaluewillworkwell.

Figure4AddingDCrectifiertotheboostedoutput.
Byaddinganotherdiodeandcapacitorwecangeneratenegativeoutputvoltagesasshowninfigure5.
WedontnecessarilyneedanegativevoltagetodrivetheLEDbutthisismoreademonstrationofhow
DCDCconverterscanalsogeneratenegativevoltagesfrompositivevoltages.CapacitorC1anddiode

D1levelshiftthepositivepeaksofthevoltagewaveformatpin1andclampthevoltageseenatthe
junctionofD1andD2toadiodeaboveground.ThisnownegativegoingwaveformisrectifiedbyD2and
filteredbyC2

.
Figure5Negativevoltagegenerator.
ThedatasheetincludesatablelistingtheoutputcurrentataVDDof1.25Vfordifferentinductorvalues.
Ivereproducedithere.
L1Inductorvalue

OutputCurrent

560uH

3.0mA

220uH

7.0mA

150uH

10mA

82uH

15mA

68uH

21mA

47uH

30mA

Anotheroptionistoreplacethesimpleinductorwithatransformer.TheCoilcraftHexapath6winding
HPH11400Lhasawindinginductanceof200uHsoitfitsrightintherangeofvalueslistedinthetable.
Infigure6wehaveconfiguredtheHPH11400Lasa1:5stepuptransformerandthecircuitcandeliver
1mAofcurrenttoa15Kloadresistor(or15VDC)

Figure6TransformerDCDCboosterdelivers1mAat15V.
Imsuretherearecountlessotherpossiblecircuitswecouldthinkup.SuchasusingoneoftheAWG
outputsfromtheAnalogDiscoverymoduletodrivetheCEinput.Applingapulsewidthmodulated
squarewavecouldserveasawaytochangethebrightnessoftheLED.
AddingavoltagecomparatortodrivetheCEinputwithfeedbackfromtheboostedoutputadds
regulationtothecircuitasintheDCDCconverterLabActivity .Theregulationschemeproposedin
theLabismorecomplexbutasimplerversioncanbemadebyaddingjustacoupleofresistorsandan
NPNtransistortofigure4whichdemonstratestheconcept.Figure7showstheadditionalcircuitry.

Figure7Addingnegativefeedbackregulatestheoutputvoltage.
TheregulatedoutputvoltagewillbeNtimestheVBEofQ1(a2N3904workswell).Themultiplication
factorNissetbytheresistordividerratio.Usingthe10Kpotentiometerandtheresistorvaluesshown
theoutputshouldbeadjustabletoarangeofvoltagesaround+5V.Theloadregulationisfairlygoodup
tothemaximumcurrentbasedonthechosenvalueforL1however,thetemperaturestabilitywillbe
ratherpoorbecauseofthestrongnegativeTCofVBE.

AsalwaysIwelcomecommentsandsuggestionsfromtheusercommunityoutthere.
Doug

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