This post will walk you though how to protect your Raspberry Pi while powering it from a solar-powered system, and provide some tips for reducing the power consumption. Our desired goal is to power the Raspberry Pi with only a small solar panel (which you’ll see is not easy considering how power-hungry these boards are), so we’ll provide you with the know-how and tools necessary to reduce the power consumption.
Overview:
- How to protect the Raspberry Pi by safely and autonomously turning it off
- How to cycle the Raspberry Pi on and off to reduce power consumption
- Third party boards to help manage powering the Pi on and off
- How to appropriately size your solar panels to maintain the Pi after you’ve reduced the power consumption
