His solution is to use the device’s solar panel input as a feedback pin from his ATtiny, allowing the microcontroller to keep an eye on its supply voltage and enable or disable the converter as necessary while it keeps running from the reservoir capacitor. Their problem is that they are designed as joule thieves rather than regulators, so using them as a microcontroller PSU without modification can result in overvoltage. The YX805A chip he references in his write-up is one of several similar chips that function in effect as joule thieves, extending the available charge in the battery to keep the LED active as long as possible when their solar panel is generating nothing, and turning it off in daylight when the panel can charge. ![]() These are components with potential, as noted with a mind to his ATtiny85 projects. A solar cell, a little boost converter chip, and a little NiCd battery alongside the LED. Internally though they are surprisingly interesting devices. Most of you probably have a set lurking somewhere at home, their batteries maybe exhausted. ![]() ![]() Solar garden lights are just another part of the great trash pile of our age, electronics so cheap as to be disposable.
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