ESP32 Forum

For example
M5stack uses EA3036
Odroid-go uses MP2161
Olimex ESP32-DevKit-LiPo uses Silergy SY8089

Thanks. Very helpful.

For the benefit of others:

The EA3036C is under $0.15 per unit
The MP2161 is under $0.10 per unit
The SY8089 is under $0.09 per unit

Perhaps luisonoff will be interested in analyzing their efficiency.

Thanks for the idea. Even a LiFePO4 battery has a voltage which is too high while it is charging.

LiFePO4 battery is charged to 3.6V (or 3.65V) and this is within ESP32 voltage range.
You can limit the charger voltage to 3.5 V and the battery will still be charged to 99% - 100% depending on type.
I've used this in a practical project (with the solar charger) for months without any issue.
This is the only powering method where the full battery capacity can be used, without any losses.

Here is an interesting article.

Thanks for the idea. Even a LiFePO4 battery has a voltage which is too high while it is charging.

LiFePO4 battery is charged to 3.6V (or 3.65V) and this is within ESP32 voltage range.
You can limit the charger voltage to 3.5 V and the battery will still be charged to 99% - 100% depending on type.
I've used this in a practical project (with the solar charger) for months without any issue.
This is the only powering method where the full battery capacity can be used, without any losses.

Here is an interesting article.

Fascinating. I will have a closer look at using LiFePO4 batteries.

What solar charge controller IC do you use?

Little bit more info on the XC6203 LDO regulators.

The maximum peak current is 600mA with the sustained output current of 400mA. I use the E series which has no built in current limiter to ensure that doesn't kick in. With a 220uF miniature SMD output capacitor I haven't seen any significant brown out spikes.

There are other regulators in Torex range which are also interesting. The XC6220 has a 1A output also with low quiescent and even lower drop out, but they are a bit more expensive.

What solar charge controller IC do you use?

No special solar charge controller IC is used, just MP2315 switching regulator providing 6V to the TP5000 battery charger setup for LiFePO4 charging and some additional circuit to disconnect the panel on low voltage. Any panel (or other power source) 6V - 24V can be used. Input and battery voltages are measured by ESP32.
You can use cheap modules for charging LiFePO4 battery, like this one.