Power

Power is one of the more fundamental concepts in electronics. Check out the following tutorials to reduce current consumption, toggle high power applications, monitor your battery, or charge your LiPo battery safely! Not sure the power requirements of your project? Try checking out the tutorial on how to power your project for some considerations.

Hookup Guide for the SparkFun RedBoard Artemis ATP

August 28, 2019

Get started with the RedBoard Artemis ATP - all the functionality of the SparkFun Artemis module wrapped in the Mega Arduino Footprint

How Lithium Polymer Batteries are Made

May 28, 2014

We got the opportunity to tour the Great Power Battery factory. Checkout how LiPos are made!

How to Build a Remote Kill Switch

May 31, 2016

Learn how to build a wireless controller to kill power when things go... sentient.

How to Power a Project

February 7, 2013

A tutorial to help figure out the power requirements of your project.

INA169 Breakout Board Hookup Guide

November 20, 2013

How to interface with the INA169 Breakout Board to measure current.

Internet of Things Experiment Guide

November 23, 2016

The SparkFun ESP8266 Thing Dev Board is a powerful development platform that lets you connect your hardware projects to the Internet. In this guide, we show you how to combine some simple components to remotely log temperature data, send yourself texts and control lights from afar.

IoT Power Relay

May 21, 2018

Using the ESP32 to make a web-configured timed relay.

IoT RedBoard ESP32 Development Board Hookup Guide

August 18, 2022

Delve into the functionality-rich world of the IoT RedBoard ESP32 Development Board!

LilyPad Basics: Powering Your Project

September 24, 2018

Learn the options for powering your LilyPad projects, LiPo battery safety and care, and how to calculate and consider power constraints on your projects.

LilyPad Simple Power Hookup Guide

January 15, 2015

A basic guide for getting started using the LilyPad Simple Power with LiPo batteries.

LiPo Charger Plus Hookup Guide

May 30, 2019

This tutorial shows you how to hook up and use the SparkFun LiPo Charger Plus board.

LiPo Fuel Gauge (MAX1704X) Hookup Guide

February 23, 2023

Monitor your LiPo battery with the LiPo fuel gauge! In this tutorial, we will be using the MAX17043 and MAX17048 to monitor a single cell, LiPo battery over the Arduino Serial Monitor. We will also connect a display to view the output without the need to connect the microcontroller to a computer.

LiPo USB Charger Hookup Guide

May 1, 2014

How to charge your LiPo batteries with the USB LiPo charger. Plus how to modify your charger to set the charge current.

LTC4150 Coulomb Counter Hookup Guide

September 18, 2014

A "Coulomb Counter" is like a gas gauge for your battery. Here's how to use it.

LumiDrive Hookup Guide

January 17, 2019

The LumiDrive LED Driver is SparkFun’s foray into all things Python on micro-controllers. With the SparkFun LumiDrive you will be able to control and personalize a whole strand of APA102s directly from the board itself.

LuMini 8x8 Matrix Hookup Guide

January 24, 2019

The LuMini 8x8 Matrix (APA102-2020) are the highest resolution LED matrix available.

LuMini Ring Hookup Guide

January 17, 2019

The LuMini Rings (APA102-2020) are the highest resolution LED rings available.

Mean Well LED Switching Power Supply Hookup Guide

June 28, 2018

In this tutorial, we will be connecting a Mean Well LED switching power supply to an addressable LED strip controlled by an Arduino.

Measuring Internal Resistance of Batteries

May 5, 2016

Classroom STEM activity that has students build a battery from a lemon, measure the open and closed circuit voltages, and determine the battery's internal resistance.

MicroMod Ethernet Function Board - W5500 Hookup Guide

March 10, 2022

Add Ethernet and PoE capabilities to your MicroMod project using the Ethernet Function Board - W5500.

Nuclear Battery Assembly Guide

June 8, 2018

How to put together your BYOT (Bring Your Own Tritium) Nuclear Battery Kit!

Photon Battery Shield Hookup Guide

July 2, 2015

The Photon Battery Shield has everything your Photon needs to run off, charge, and monitor a LiPo battery. Read through this hookup guide to get started using it.

Photon Remote Water Level Sensor

June 2, 2016

Learn how to build a remote water level sensor for a water storage tank and how to automate a pump based off the readings!
Viewing 74 Power Tutorials. View All Tutorials.

Old Tutorials

Looking for the old, archived tutorials? Head on over to the archived tutorials on the main SparkFun site.
Please be aware that the tutorials you find there are no longer actively maintained.