Battery Charger Interface

This topic specifies the charging interface to the Solo battery (this is needed if you want to build chargers, charging pads, etc).

Solo Battery Specifications

The Solo battery has the following physical and electrical specifications:

500 grams
Total capacity: 5.2 Ah (not a required spec)
Charge rate: 1-2C
Charging temp: 0C ~ 40C
Discharge rate (continuous): 20A
Discharge rate (burst): 120A
Operating voltage range: 10.0 V to 16.8 V
Discharging operating temp: -20C ~ 60C

Mechanical Interface

The charger must be able to physically connect to the battery (the available space for the connector is bounded by the top cover of the battery (see figure below).

Electrical Interface

The electrical interface with Solo uses the following connectors:

Battery side connector (female) is a Molex 171090-0048 (PDF). This is a custom connector that can only be purchased in minimum orders of 1,000 units.
Solo / charger side connector (male) is a Molex 171088-0048 (PDF)

The battery interface has 3 prongs with 4 contacts. The SMBus connector has 2 contacts: SCL (top) and SDA (bottom) on the top-most prong. The Battery + and - are the bottom 2 prongs. The battery and SMBus must share a common ground.

The connector contacts are rated for 40A on the power contacts.

Figure: Solo / Battery charger side male connector (Molex 171088-0048)

Figure: Battery side female connector (Molex 171090-0048)

Communication Protocol

Solo uses the standard SMBUS spec for communicating with the battery. To interface with the battery it is best to implement the full specification.