General Idea: Very small solar cell(s) in the tens of milliwatts range, MPPT IC, battery protection IC, 3.3v LDO (with additional 1.8v LDO depending on things tm)

I like the KXOB25-01X8F-TR solar cells..

  • Power (Watts) - Max 24.5 mW
  • Current @ Pmpp 5.5 mA
  • Voltage @ Pmpp 4.46 V
  • 22 x 7 x 1.8 [mm]
  • Measured at 1 sun (= 100 mW/cm²)
  • 8 Cells in series?

Do we need energy harvesting / MPPT IC?

  • To charge fully we need 4.2v open circuit (which is not peak effeciency)
  • 4.2/8= 0.525v per cell
  • Works down to 10.5 W/m
  • 0.55v also happens to be the MPP at 1000 W/m

Based on that graph, and the other stuff, I’m gonna make the simplification to only have overcharge protection because MPPT chips are like $8.