Fast Solar Power Charging

Picogrid uses solar panels to charge the its built in battery, but be careful not to use a panel that gives more than 39V. Too much voltage could permanently damage the device. Once you connect the solar panel, Picogrid will start to charge its own battery.

Keep in mind that the device will only use 200W if higher power panel arrays are connected. Any additional power won't be used for charging.

When the device's battery is less than 5.8V, the device's internal systems take control of the charging until the battery reaches 6.2V.

If the battery voltage is between 6.2V and 7.1V, the device uses a fast charging method called MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking). MPPT works by performing quick 20 second checks every 5 minutes. During this check, the device figures out the most power the solar panel can give, and uses that level to charge the battery. It needs to check this every 5 minutes because things like the sun's position and the weather can change how much power the panel can provide.

When the battery voltage gets to 7.1V, the device changes from MPPT to a mode called voltage control. Here, the device will constantly tweak the solar panel's power to keep the battery voltage stable between 7V and 7.1V. This adjustment process keeps going until nighttime, when the battery starts to drain as it powers the load.