With the increase in battery-powered electronics, consumers are looking for more convenient ways to charge. If a homeowner needs to fix a door but finds that the battery of their cordless drill has no charge, it will take much longer if they can’t find the drill’s power adapter.

One reason why products traditionally had a dedicated power adapter was to provide an input power range that the battery-charger input could support. But what if the battery charger integrated circuit (IC) input could support common household adapters (such as a laptop USB Type-C® cord) for charging power tools?

The increase in battery-powered electronics has also created a need for reliable, portable backup power. If a camper wants to watch a movie under the stars, it would be convenient to design a system that charges the backup battery source during the day so that the electronic product can be powered by the backup battery at night. What if you could design a portable power station that could charge from solar power?

These situations are very different battery-charging scenarios, but there are common ways to help mitigate the design challenges that would allow you to create systems for diversified battery charging applications.