Electronics > Electronics

Can I drain a battery at the same time as charging it?

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crazedrobot:
Sorry if this question seems noobish, but I want to have solar panels charge a battery (probably LiPo) at the same time as I am drawing power from it. Would this work? I don't see why it wouldn't but I've never done it before. Thanks.

definitionofis:
Yes it will work.
Do you have a way to regulate charging so the solar panel disconnects when the voltage gets too high, which indicates the battery is fully charged? Batteries are damaged if they are over charged. Some can explode or catch fire too.


MCP73811 looks simple for LiPO

crazedrobot:
Thanks for the response. Yeah I was thinking of using this charger which should connect between my solar panel and LiPo and then stop the current flow once the battery is charged.
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8293

Daanii:
That's a good way to do it. You lose some current charging the battery. And you lose some current discharging the battery. So hooking the load and the charger both up to the solar panel will give you the best efficiency.

crazedrobot:
So just to make sure I understand correctly, you're saying I should connect the load to both the solar panel and the battery? (And then connect the solar panel also to the charger connected to the battery). And then when there is no sunlight the load can draw power from the battery and if there is sunlight, it can draw power from the solar panel, right? Thanks!

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