Buck Converter Powers 5-V Circuits From 12-V Solar-Cell Array

by Paul Florian, Allen, Texas, paulcflorian@att.net, Electronic Design, Sep 24 2009

Focus:
A 12-V to 5-V buck converter delivers nearly 80 mA for powering low-power analog or logic circuits, or even microcontrollers from an array of four 3-V 40-mA solar cells. The circuit is built around the 555 timer IC and other commonly available components, making this design easy-to-build and possibly less expensive than designs based on dedicated buck converter ICs. Efficiency of the converter is about 83% over the input power range. Article includes a graph that plots solar array output power versus time of day.

What you’ll learn:

• How to build a stepdown converter for powering 5-V circuitry from a 12-V solar cell array
• How to build a 12-V to 5-V, 80-mA buck converter using readily available parts

Notes:
ED's Ideas For Design.

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