Waveshare Solar Power Manager Module (D), Supports 6V~24V Solar Panel and Type-C Power Adapter, 5V/3A Regulated Output for Raspberry Pi/Jetson Nano, with Battery Holder (Batteries Not Include)

This is the second Waveshare product I have reviewed (technically the first one I've owned). I purchased this to be used in conjunction with 3 - 18650 3300mAh Li po's and a 20w 12v solar panel.Immediate results - the panel delivered the charging voltage and charged the Li Po's within a day, the device also provides my Mega 2560 with a 5v supply as well as charging the battery bank. There is polarity protection on the circuit as well. As received, it does not supply any data except the set of LED's on the board itself giving battery status and charging information.There are 2 pinout's that will need soldered in to give an SWDIO interface (which I have not used "yet") and should provide better debugging data than just plug and play.Personally I like the fact that my project now has 3 - 18650 batteries as a power source and can be charged via solar. Put this in an ip65 project box and make any project virtually stand alone in the outdoors. Cannot recommend this enough for any outdoor project.

This module is not capable of delivering 5V at 3A. The unit has a no-load voltage of 5.1V which decreases to 4.7V at 1A. The low-voltage alarm for the Raspberry Pi boards is 4.7V. The output of this Waveshare solar power manager module is too low for the Raspberry Pi and Jetson Nano. Measurements were made using a constant current load, a set of 18650 batteries, and a bench power supply to simulate a solar panel. When tested for QC capabilities, the module recognized the protocol, but only supported the 5V level. Maximum solar panel input varied between 10 and 12W at various input voltages.The offering for this board overstates its capabilities, at best it could support a low current remote project. If you plan to power a Raspberry Pi remotely, I recommend looking somewhere else.

So, frankly, I was really excited about this board and being able to do some more remote installations using the pi. Unfortunately, the marketing on this board is just downright wrong. It's stated in the description that it "provides 5V/3A regulated output" , in fact, it provides 4.7V / 1A power total, while some of the components on the board might be regulated to 5V/3A the input limit is 12W, 3A * 5V = 15VA, and then lets assume your power factor is .9 that'd be 13.5W which it's pretty easy to see, it's simply not sustainable once you really get in to it, now at 3.7V which is battery level, at 3A that's 11.1W which appears to be feasible but for whatever reason, the board appears to be limited to 1A which makes this useful for highly limited use cases and ones with less power consumption than a typical pi board. It may work fine on a nano.

This device allows for the use of standard rechargable batteries to keep small electronic devices charged and ready to go. Converts a solar power input to a standard output that any Type C connector can use. While it is suggested for a raspberry pi it can be any of a number of devices. Using a standard Type C output gives great flexibility. I found no issues with this on volts and amps. Seemed to work in my test cases.

The listing is deceiving. It implies 3A output, including PD,QC, etc. In reality, it maxes out at 1A, and doesn't support any smart output protocols. It's a weak fixed 5V 1A output. Solar charge rate is equally dissappointing. Max rate was 12w at 6.5v. When supplying 10v, max rate was 10w. At 12v it was 8w. There's no data port for a CPU to get info out of the charger. The least they could have done is report power statistics over SPI or something. Bottom line, I don't see how this can be useful. There is zero chance that this could power a Pi, let alone a Jetson. It would struggle just to power an Arduino. This board is a hard pass in my opinion. You would be better off getting any of the many cheap power banks, with actual modern PD support, and simply plug in a budget solar panel that provides 5v USB-C output.