Review on Raspberry Pi Solar Panel Module by Ryan Lawrence

Before writing this review, I thoroughly tested this HAT in fairly harsh conditions. By brutal I mean temperature swings of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, hitting the maximum thermal limits of the gear. What this expensive HAT offers compared to other solutions is space savings and control. You won't find a smaller package that offers the ability to put the Pi to sleep and then wake it up based on any combination: button, battery voltage, solar voltage, time, pin short. The latter allows you to wake up the Pi based on whatever external hardware you want. Want to wake up your Pi with an SMS text message? Makeable! - with other devices. The ability to sleep and wake the Pi is crucial for remote outdoor applications where the system needs to run on its own, using only solar power to keep it running. Everything is well documented and setup is easy. absolute wind. You can use CLI commands to read battery or solar panel status, initiate sleep mode, etc. Ironically, the only aspect of this Solar HAT that could be improved is its solar charging. Oh it works! But it's not an MPPT, and the charger can only deliver up to 2A (at a user-defined voltage). The good news is that a separate DC-to-DC buck converter is used to power the Pi itself: 3A continuous and 4A peak. So the 2A sent to the battery will not be consumed by the Pi (unless there is enough current coming from the panel).