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OmniCharge

Ryan Purnell, Luke Hutchinson, Justin Labombard, Arya Shajpaul, Nathan Hopkins, and Evan Curtin

Proud Recipients of the Make It Happen Challenge Funding

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Background

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Our Idea

Smart Solar Charge Controller-

Utilizes MPPT technology to provide maximum current to a battery when charging
Provides 12V jack for DC lighting
USB ports for phone charging
TFT LCD display on the unit
Mobile companion app to monitor the system
Standby mode with decreased power consumption

OmniCharge

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Impactfulness

Campers and travelers
RV and van owners
Those discouraged by the lack of usability in other controllers

Increased solar efficiency to 93% - 97%
Increase the usage of solar power in the sector
Allows us to make a difference in renewable energy
Provides us with practical design experience

Who does our product benefit?

Additional Benefits

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Market Research

Historical Data of People Camping in the US

Historical Data of People Participating in Various Outdoor Activities in the US

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Comparable Products

Planned Improvements

Less efficient charging methods
Restrictive user interfaces
Lack of charging ports
Visually unappealing
Poorly constructed for outdoor use

New and efficient charging technology
Simplistic TFT LCD display and smartphone companion app for data tracking
More USB ports
Visually appealing with durable protective casing*

We looked at several different charge controllers and many of them used outdated and less efficient charging methods. Most of the charge controllers that we viewed offered minimal and often counterintuitive user interfaces, with only the newest ones having a mobile app, and the rest having only a basic LCD to show data. Additionally, many of the charge controllers lacked protective casing and USB ports, with several of them simply being printed circuit boards that won't hold up well in real-world applications.

As for our planned improvements, we want to design a high efficiency charge controller with a sleek user interface provided by the TFT LCD display and mobile companion app. Additionally, we want to provide up to four USB ports. In the future we plan to produce a durable, yet visually appealing case to protect the unit and the circuits within. We will also provide all of the cabling needed to set up the OmniCharge, as well as a detailed set of instructions so that anyone can operate our device.

Notes for if they ask questions:

PWM uses 3-4 static charging modes whereas MPPT constantly adjusts the output voltage of the solar array to maximize the current delivered to the battery. MPPT performs much better in colder environments or cloudy/hazy days because it is able to properly adjust the output to stay at the maximum power point of the PV.

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Companion App and Software

Monitor battery charge
Estimate time until full charge
Estimate discharge time
Intuitive user interface
Android app
Solar coverage

How much current from solar panel

Plot the metrics on graphs
Monitor port usage

How many charging ports used
Current rates

Planned Features

Bonus Features

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Financials

Cost of production for the prototype is $88.49 per unit
It would be sold at a retail price of $119.99 per unit, for a $30 profit
PCB fabrication in China
Product assembly initially in Ryan’s basement workshop
We are not expecting to bring in additional employees for the time being

Budget Items	Cost
Materials/PCB Fabrication	$50,000
Salaries	$120,000
Marketing	$10,000
Equipment for Product Assembly	$5,000
Contingency Line	$10,000
Total Estimated Startup Cost	$195,000

Here we have a breakdown of our estimated budget request of $195,000, which we are hoping will be enough to cover our initial expenses until we are able generate substantial sales revenue. We estimate this to be 6 months to 1 year after our pcb design is completed, or 1 to 2 years from now. Ideally, this request would be fully covered through a loan, however with realism in mind, we would be prepared to cover at least $50,000 of that through fundraising, attracting investors, and out of pocket expenses.

Cost of production for the prototype is $88.49 per unit, which will be dramatically reduced through the use of custom PCBs that are populated with bulk-ordered parts. For example, the DFROBOT solar power manager alone accounts for $25 of the production cost and will be totally removed from the final design. As a result, we also intend to greatly reduce the retail price as well, but are still looking to maintain at least a 30-40 dollar profit margin.

Due to our large group size and small initial company size, we are not planning on bringing on any additional employees until we have the demand and funding to warrant such an action.

Our initial salaries will be quite low with only $120,000 allocated between 6 people.

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Outdoor Device Showcase

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Voltage Measurements

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Phone App in Use

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Phone

Charging

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LEDs being powered on/off

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Future Upgrades

Enable the current sensor in the code to receive the current from the panel
Enable the programmable relay in the code to increase our displayable outputs
Complete PCB design to condense the omnicharge and decrease the cost of production
Print out the case that we designed for the omnicharge
Design a new case once we receive the new PCBs

As far as long term improvements go, we would like to enable the current sensor in the circuit to receive that data to our phone app. We also want to enable the relay to increase the total number of displayed outputs. Our main goal is to condense the currently clustered set of PCBs, relays, and exposed cabling into a single board to greatly decrease the cost of production and increase the compactness of the design. We also want to print out our current-modeled case, as well as making a few improvements to it in the future.

Possible answers to questions:

Outputs are currently loaded solar voltage and current and voltage into the battery. With the relay, we could provide voltage out from the battery as well as unloaded solar voltage and current (so you can actually see how your panel output is changing over time). We also plan to add another current sensor to allow the current in and out of the battery to be displayed as well.

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Case Design

Lid Design

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Questions?

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Solar Charge Controller

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Charge Controller Market

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Support/Resources

Maker Gym-

CAD design and 3D printing
Lab equipment for testing sample controllers and prototypes
Heat gun and other soldering equipment
Additional resources can be provided through the Isuite

Bill of Materials

Material	Cost	Sources
PCB Fabrication	$200	Osh Park
Electrical Components	$200	Misc.
Contingency Line	$200	Make It Happen
12V 50Ah Battery	$155	Amazon
50W Solar Panel	$100	Home Depot
Cabling	$50	Misc.
Raspberry Pi Zero W (w/ Bluetooth)	$35	CanaKit
DFROBOT Solar Power Manager	$25	Amazon
Huzzah32 Feather Board	$22	Adafruit
LED Light Bar	$20	Super Bright LEDs
LT3652 Power Tracker	$10	DigiKey
TOTAL	$1044	-

We have generated a Bill of Materials and a budget request of around $1,044 to create our product, which we believe is quite feasible as all of the required technology exists already. We plan to use several features of the Maker Gym to complete our project, including its 3D printing services to design and build the case for the Omnicharge. We also hope to use lab equipment there so that we can test the charge controllers listed in our Bill of Materials and create prototypes based on them. We then plan to develop custom printed circuit boards based on these prototypes, so we would need to use heat guns and other soldering equipment to solder the necessary components onto our boards once we have them. We will also be using additional resources provided through the Isuite and professors within Evans Hall.

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Finances

The cost of production for the current prototype is around $88.49 per unit
It would be sold at a retail price of $119.99 per unit, for around a $30 profit
PCB fabrication in China, product assembly initially in Ryan’s basement workshop
With 6 group members and a small initial size, we are not expecting to bring on any additional employees for the time being

Budget Items	Cost
Materials/PCB Fabrication	$50,000
Salaries	$70,000
Marketing	$10,000
Equipment for Product Assembly	$5,000
Contingency Line	$10,000
Total Estimated Startup Cost	$155,000

The unit cost material will reduce dramatically with a pcb and ordering the parts in bulk when we use custom PCBs (for example, the DFROBOT solar power manager accounts for $25 of the production cost that will be totally removed from our final design). As a result, we also intend to greatly reduce the retail price as well, but are still looking to maintain at least a 30-40 dollar profit margin.

PCB fabrication in China, component placement from initially in Ryan’s basement workshop until we have enough capital to purchase a space for ourselves.

Due to our large group size and small initial company size, we are not planning on bringing on any additional employees until we have the company size and demand to warrant such an action.

Our initial salaries will be quite low with only $70,000 allocated between 6 people, however we would split that money proportionally based on work put in and the roles that each person has within the company.