A self-powered apparatus includes a solar power cell, a battery, and a load.
The
load may include one or more load functions performed using power provided by one
or both of the solar power cell and the battery. The inclusion of a battery permits
the solar power cell to be sized much smaller than if the solar power cell was
the only supply of power. A programmable controller selectively regulates power
provided to one or more load functions and also selectively regulates whether one
or both of the power cell and battery supplies the power. Switching circuitry,
controlled by the programmable controller, selectively couples one or both of the
battery and the solar cell to supply energy for powering the load. In a preferred
example embodiment, the controller couples the battery and/or solar cell to charge
a super capacitor, which then is selectively controlled to power the load. The
programmable controller determines and prioritizes load function power requirements,
and based thereon, determines which load functions will be powered based the priority
of the load function requirements and the amount of power that can be supplied
by the solar power cell as supplemented by the battery.
