My project entailed a small greenhouse. Even in early Spring, the temperature inside can reach > 40°C on sunny days and I didn't want to arrive home at a collection of withered seedlings. So it would have to open and close automatically. This solar energy harvester is perfect for the job because there is abundant energy when it is most needed: when the sun shines.

I paired it to a cheap solar cell that I got off one of these cheap Chinese solar lamps looking like a rock that I had lying around. I paired it to a modified Arduino Pro Mini (which only uses 5 µA in deep sleep), and drive a small electric motor with it through an Adafruit DRV8833 motor controller.

The whole setup works better than I could dream of. The lithium capacitor holds enough charge for tens of open/close actions. And at 5 µA it can go for weeks without light. Even on overcast days it is able to charge. It's an incredible device.

I purchased version 2 and after living for a month in my window sill to test it out, the buck converter mysteriously died when I was at the point of integrating it into my project. Jasper didn't waste any time and swapped it for a new one without hassle. Bonus: I got a version 3 instead which can deliver a higher current.

Highly recommended!

Response from Jasper Sikken | April 27, 2023

Thanks A for the great review

Tom | Dec. 28, 2017

Electronic Load

For Arduino Electronic Load R2

Received the load last week and immediately put it to work. Very simple interface to work with via the Arduino IDE. I will investigate other means to control in the future. The load is slightly off from the specified current in the interface, but I am sure that could be worked around with some calibration code in the control.
Mine did come with a sample defect: the screw terminal block was installed backwards. The place to insert the wires was facing the large heatsink and not possible to use. Fortunately it was simple enough to desolder the block, reverse it, and resolder it back in place. I will update my review if I find anything else after my continued use.

David | Dec. 18, 2017

Works well

For Arduino Electronic Load R2

I bought this load for two main purposes, the first is to test power supplies particularly with pulsed loads. The second use is to use it to test batteries for discharge characteristics.
The pulse load function is not yet available however I will modify the code to add the required code for this function.

I have used it to test a Li-po battery and it did as expected, It discharged the battery at the expected current, and switched off when the voltage dropped just below the cut off voltage I specified.

Tindie

Jasper Sikken

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Exceeds my expectations

Response from Jasper Sikken | April 27, 2023

Electronic Load

Works well