>
> I recently bought a 6V 60mA solar cell and want to charge a 6V 1.2A
> lead acid battery. Is there a suitable PIC (possibly with A/D
> converter) to handle this directly. I was thinking in a two step
> charging cycle (trickle charge + bulk-charge)
>
> Any help welcome!
A 6 volt SLA battery charges at 6.9 to 7.1 volts. The 7.1 is youre
fast charge and 6.9 is youre trickle charge setting. Voltages in
excess of this will damage the battery, even 7.1 long term is ill
advised. Note... most SLA batteries will be damaged if the battery
terminal voltage falls below 5.3.
A 6 volt SLA (no load) at 6 volts is at 25% capacity. 6.3 volts for
100%
Some sort of step up switching voltage technique would do this.
Check out Maxim's site www.maxim-ic.com
There is probably an direct app note covering this, otherwise any
step up regulator such as MAX608 or MAX641.

_____________________________

Lance Allen
Technical Officer
Uni of Auckland
Psych Dept
New Zealand

www.psych.auckland.ac.nz

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