I’m looking for a charger that will take solar input, and output to microUSB to be able to charge a USB battery pack using its charging input; the USB pack will then run USB devices via normal USB connection.
Sparkfun’s MPPT tracker only charges 3.7V LiPo battery packs. (sparkfun.com/products/12885). Does it have a 5V output as well? (the walkthrough isn’t clear).
I’m looking for a charger that will take solar input, and output to microUSB to be able to charge a USB battery pack.
If the MPPT module is not suitable, thoughts on such a converter? An straightforward switching regulator seems like it’d be suboptimal since that’d output a fixed 5V, but maybe that’s what a USB pack wants.
I’m not quite sure that I follow your need, but it sounds like you need to ultimately charge a battery pack via solar and then make that power available to other stuff. I’ve got a similar setup that I’m just about to implement on my ROVer project (links & videos below) and I’m using a Voltaic Systems battery (2 actually) that I then output to the Aruinos and everything else. The batteries have built in charge controllers and USB outputs (as well as other outputs). That may be a solution for you as well.
The Sparkfun Sunny Buddy is a 3.7V Li battery charger and does not have a 5V output. However, it is very simple to connect a 5V boost converter to the battery being charged.