Solar powered ESP32 IoT Sensor | Runs forever on sunshine! BUILD VIDEO!

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ESP32 microcontroller: amzn.to/3dSdLNo
BME280 sensor: amzn.to/3wHr0sw
DHT22 sensor: amzn.to/3dNUTis
DS18b20 sensor: amzn.to/3msKMU8
18650 battery: amzn.to/2Q9MTQI
18650 battery holder: amzn.to/3s4SBQW
TP4056 charge controller: amzn.to/3mzdX8a
90x60mm solar panel: amzn.to/2OzZBI0
Soldering iron kit: amzn.to/3d2oPIp
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Solar-powered Lipo 18650 battery powered ESP32 IoT WiFi device with BME280 Temp humidity barometric pressure battery voltage sensor. Uses TP4056 battery management solar charge controller, Wemos ESP32 D1 Mini microcontroller board, runs in deep-sleep mode out of the box!
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[@bestbang320]

Very informative! Thanks for the upload!

[@OMGTheCloud]

Glad it was helpful!

[@EmpowermentZone-m2z]

That's so cool that you can build that!

[@OMGTheCloud]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@GrapplingWithCanada]

Great info!!

[@OMGTheCloud]

Thanks for watching!

[@ryanmiles3995]

I really need to learn how to properly soder. Good stuff!

[@OMGTheCloud]

Its a good skill to learn! Maybe I’ll put together an ‘intro to soldering’ video 😁👍

[@josemanuelsuarezroman6201]

Thanks for your video. Can you share the 3D print module for the case?,thanks

[@groo1887]

Cool stuff! Thanks for sharing. Can you please post the ESPHome Yaml file you used to manage the sensor. It would help to see how you managed deep sleep and the sensor readings.

[@ionescuveronel5011]

Hello Sir. I'm trying to configure an esp32-cam powered by solar panels. I'm curiouse how that tp4056 work and if i can supply 5V from this configuration to my esp32-cam(because it will not work at 3.3V).I'm using a bigger solar panel and i want to reduce it's current to 5V using a buck converter then power tp4056 .My problem is how could i make the 4.2V that 18650 outputs to raise at 5V .(i know, it's sound stupid,I'm still a beginner).Thank you!

[@gleepwurp1974]

Nice! L;ooking forward to the next video! Do you have the links/models for the 3d-Printed solder stand?

[@OMGTheCloud]

Thank you! Good eye on the solder station... here it is! www.thingiverse.com/thing:1689392

[@olivierbausson8166]

Very interesting! I was surprised in the beginning with the use of TP4056 because it seems to have a 5V input supply. So I go and see the datasheet and find 8V. It's a good value for solar panel! I usually used CN3065 but only support 6V. So I have to choose low voltage solar panel or to add a protection circuit for not destroy CN3065 when the battery is full (open circuit voltage of solar panel) . Other subject : do you have a long experiment in outdoor with BME280? In my weather station, humidity value is always 100% since october, just begin to fall about 90% with the spring. If I open the box with electronics circuit, humidity fall about 50% in few minutes.

[@OMGTheCloud]

Thanks for checking that out! The TP4056 is a great charge controller, and this latest version of the board (link in description) having the battery isolation / low-voltage protection is a really welcome improvement

[@olivierbausson8166]

@@OMGTheCloud That's right! For the low-voltage protection. For my weather station, the voltage never comes under 3,75V. But it depends on the application. I think, I'll use TP4056 for my next project with ESP32 and solar Panel.

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

OMG, the clouds stopped the solar charger working !

[@OMGTheCloud]

Ha… that took me a minute.. more coffee 😂

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

@@OMGTheCloud :)

[@BrianThomas]

Where do I get that enclosure?

[@VpilsProductions]

If you're attaching SCL and SDA, that'd be I2C not SPI? It does support both I2C and 3W/4W SPI, just curious which one you really used. Good job nevertheless.

[@OMGTheCloud]

That was a test, and you passed!! Just kidding, thank you for catching that. I work with I2C and SPI so interchangeably that sometimes I misspeak. Thanks for watching, and keeping me honest!

[@guyteub]

Hey there, Thanks for the great content. I am working on a solar powered iOT device as well. I didn't find the link to the STL file of this project. Is it available somewhere?

[@OMGTheCloud]

Thanks for checking out my project! That particular housing isnt really good for a temp sensor, since it does not shield solar radiation; it's really just a proof of concept. If you want something outdoors that will give you good temperature readings in direct sunlight, check out this design below. I modified this to include a housing below it for an 18650 battery, charge circuit, and ESP32 (or ESP8266 if you prefer). let me know if that's interesting, and I'll post my edited design: www.thingiverse.com/thing:1564828

[@guyteub]

@@OMGTheCloud Thanks for getting back to me ! My project is not temperature related but it is using the same solar panel. I have started to design an enclosure but i have some doubt about waterproofing

[@bosetti4102]

I read that charging the battery and power the esp32cam at the same time is dangerous because the tp doesn't see when the battery is fully charged. Do you know if is it true ?

[@OMGTheCloud]

Definitely read the datasheet and research to confirm, don't solely rely in my comments! However, I've used those charge modules in battery operated solar powered environmental sensors that have been running for years now, with no issues. In my particular case, the charge circuit is not capable of bringing the battery voltage up to more than about 4.15v, which is below the max charge. A few hours of sunshine brings the 18650 battery in my project up to about that voltage, which is about 85-90% charge capacity. That's a pretty good sweet spot for this type of battery chemistry for longevity. Hope this helps, and thanks for watching!

[@sirmoritz122]

If I'm not wrong, the maximum voltage that the TP4095 outputs is 4.2V but the ESP32 can't handle more than 3.6V. Isn't the ESP32 breaking or am I wrong?

[@OMGTheCloud]

Good question! ESP32 boards typically have a 3v3 regulator, so as long as you feed the vin side of it, you are good to go

[@Alexssio]

Hi! It’s a super interesting and well explained project, great! 😎 I would like to make a similar one but for a different application... Could you advise me how to do it? I would like to connect a powerbank, obviously with solar panel and inverter, connected to arduino to measure the external temperature and humidity and also I wanted to insert a 4g module to let me transmit data on my mobile phone wherever I am. Do you think it’s possible? Thank you very much 🤓

[@OMGTheCloud]

That sounds like a fun project! Solar-powered ESP’s with deep-sleep mode can run forever on a small solar panel, waking up to report their sensor values every 10 minutes or so, i have several that have been running for years! The last bit, using 4G, may be difficult. Are you planning to place a sensor in a very remote area where Wi-Fi would not be possible? If that is the case, I would suggest long-range radio communications, such as LoRA (I have a couple of these too; they talk to each other over 3km apart!).

[@Alexssio]

@@OMGTheCloud unfortunately in that place I have no wifi signal available, that’s why I thought of a module with sim card, however thank you for the reply 🤓

[@matbeedotcom]

3.X-4.X volts isnt too low for the +5v VIN? Or are you using the 3.3VIN?

[@OMGTheCloud]

I am technically using the 5v “VIN”, however that is just sitting on the other side of the boards’ 3v3 regulator. Since nothing in this circuit requires 5v, providing the raw 18650 battery voltage (4.20v highest) is capable of driving the 3v3 regulator through the battery’s voltage range. Dont use the 3v3 IN on the board; I’m pretty sure it’s unregulated, so giving it 4+ volts from your battery would do damage.

[@smdemmery]

@@OMGTheCloud Just checking something the red line at 2:21 is actually going to the 3.3v isnt it? Maybe im reading the pinout wrong? seems VCC is on the opposite side. So I assume you you didnt wire the 18650 to where the red arrow is going? Im about to wire up the exact same board so just double checking

[@syaduinotech3681]

Thanks for sharing sir. I already try this design and upgrade with the voltage divider for recording the voltage during sun exposure. I am very sad, i am not able to charging the unit. Do you know why? I did not understand, why the solar did not able to charge during day and using the battery on night time. Perhaps you can suggest why.

[@OMGTheCloud]

What is the voltage output of your solar panel in full sun? Which charging circuit and solar panel are you using? There's a few things that could be a problem. Share some details of your circuit and let's see if we can get you charging properly!

[@maxamende4563]

Just out of interest. Wouldn't it make more sense to use a Lolin D32 for this project due to the integrated Charge Logic (and very low Deep Sleep Power consumption)?

[@OMGTheCloud]

That’s a good idea! The only issue with the Lolin D32 Pro is it doesn’t have 2.5v over-discharge protection for the battery. Besides that, it’s almost the perfect ESP32 board! Let me know however, if you’ve found one with integrated charging that does protect against low voltage / over-discharge, I’d order it right away!!

[@maxamende4563]

@@OMGTheCloud Good Point. For my project I mitigated that problem by using a protected battery + I switch off the script as soon as the voltage drops below 2.8 v

[@OMGTheCloud]

That works as well. I also find in practice that battery protection is not super-important, because once you have it up and running, and largely debugged, your power consumption and charge rates are a fairly fixed quantity, in addition to the ability to just send yourself alerts if the battery is getting too low (I’ll be talking about that in a future video). I’ll order one of those Lolin D32 Pro’s to do some further experimenting with, it looks like a good board!

[@maxamende4563]

@@OMGTheCloud True. Do you know G6EJD - David's channel? And be aware, according to him, the non pro version only needs half of the deep sleep power

[@OMGTheCloud]

I didnt know about his channel, just found him and subscribed.. thanks for that! Do you have a link to the non-pro version of that board? I’m having trouble tracking it down

[@AllinONE-pq4hf]

Circuit diagram pls

[@vladvasyliev5838]

That's quality content, but the fact that you incompleted the whole project in one video restricts your channel from growing. I would love to see the flashing part and battery tests, there is no proof of concept in this video, feels like a disappointment.

[@OMGTheCloud]

Hey there, thanks for the feedback! The video for flashing the firmware, how to program it and get it into ESPHome / Home Assistant is being released on Friday! I was torn between releasing this in several segments, smaller videos, or one big 30 minute video. For some of my upcoming projects, I'll do one of them as a long format and see what the response is to that. Thanks again for your feedback and watching!