ZenCircuitLab

Free online electronics simulator with 293 real parts, 193 interactive lessons, 10 courses and 66 guided bench builds: DC and AC circuits, op-amps, digital logic, ESP32 and Arduino, batteries, BMS and solar PV. It runs in your browser: no install, no account needed.

Open the lab See the courses

What you can do on the bench

Courses

Zen’s Electronics Design Mastery

Personal track · about 60 hours

Design and build connected, solar-powered electronics, from Ohm’s law to an IoT capstone.

  • DC Fundamentals
  • DC Circuit Analysis
  • Capacitors, Inductors & Time
  • AC & Reactance
  • Diodes & Power Supplies
  • Transistors
  • Op-Amps & Analog ICs
  • Digital Electronics
  • Microcontrollers & Embedded
  • Capstone — Connected Tracker
  • Fabrication — Perfboard & PCB

Electronics Fundamentals

Starter · about 10 hours · for hobbyists and first-year students

Use a multimeter safely, predict voltages and currents in simple circuits, and wire LEDs, batteries and switches correctly.

  • Voltage, current and resistance
  • Series and parallel
  • Batteries and cells
  • Diodes and LEDs
  • Capacitors and time
  • AC basics
  • Switching with transistors

Electronics Technician

Technician · about 30 hours · for repair and installation technicians

Measure, test components, build and repair power supplies and control circuits, and find faults methodically.

  • Measuring and safety
  • Components and testing
  • Power supplies
  • Transistor circuits
  • Op-amps and timers
  • Batteries, chargers and USB
  • Digital and logic levels

Electronics Engineering

Engineering · about 45 hours · for ee and ece students

Analyse linear networks, design filters, amplifiers and oscillators, and confirm designs with frequency-response and sweep tools.

  • Circuit analysis
  • Network theorems
  • Transients
  • AC and phasors
  • Filters and frequency response
  • Diodes and supplies
  • Transistor amplifiers
  • Op-amps and feedback
  • Oscillators and timing
  • Digital systems

Solar PV Systems

Practitioner · about 12 hours · for pv installers and off-grid owners

Size, wire, protect, ground, commission and troubleshoot a solar system to PEC/NEC 690, and prove it on the bench: three graded exams aligned to the NC-II PV Systems Installation units.

  • 1 · PV basics
  • 2 · The IV and PV curves
  • 3 · Irradiance and temperature
  • 4 · Array configuration and the string window
  • 5 · Shading, bypass and blocking diodes
  • 6 · Charge controllers: PWM and MPPT
  • 7 · Batteries and charging
  • 8 · Inverters and topologies
  • 9 · Wiring, fuses and voltage drop
  • 10 · Grounding, bonding and surge protection
  • 11 · System sizing
  • 12 · Commissioning and troubleshooting
  • 13 · Economics
  • 14 · Code and safety

Embedded & IoT

Intermediate · about 20 hours · for makers

Write ESP32 sketches that read sensors, drive actuators, survive faults, sleep on batteries and report to the cloud.

  • First sketches
  • Buses and sensors
  • Actuators
  • Reliability
  • Power for battery devices
  • Connectivity

Electronic Components, One Build at a Time

Starter · about 6 hours · for complete beginners

Know the fourteen components every circuit is made of: read them, test them with a meter, and use each one, ending with a solar-powered automatic light you built yourself.

  • Passive parts: R, switch, pot, diode, capacitor
  • Sensing and switching: LDR, transistor
  • Power and decisions: regulator, comparator
  • Real loads and automation: relay, PIR, 555, buzzer
  • Off-grid: solar, controller, battery

House Wiring Basics

Starter · about 5 hours · for homeowners, electricians starting out, nc-ii reviewers

Wire lights, switches, outlets and a panel the way the Philippine Electrical Code expects, size the breaker and the wire for each circuit, and know what an RCD does.

  • 1 · Current, power and what a wire can carry
  • 2 · Lights and switches
  • 3 · Outlets and the branch circuit
  • 4 · The panel: main breaker and branch circuits
  • 5 · Big loads: aircon and water heater
  • 6 · People and faults: the RCD
  • 7 · Transformers and three-phase, briefly

Off-grid and Backup Power

Practitioner · about 8 hours · for homes with brownouts, sari-sari stores, small islands

Choose and size batteries, chargers, inverters and a UPS for a home that loses the grid, and prove the night and the outage with a test run.

  • 1 · Cells, packs and internal resistance
  • 2 · Charging
  • 3 · Lead-acid against LiFePO4
  • 4 · Building the bank
  • 5 · Inverters and the home UPS
  • 6 · Living through a brownout
  • 7 · Small off-grid systems
  • 8 · The whole system, sized and tested

Advanced PV Systems

Engineering · about 8 hours · for installers moving to grid-tie, hybrid and three-phase work

Design strings against the cold-morning window, protect and ground an array to PEC 6.90, choose between grid-tie, hybrid and AC-coupled topologies, and commission the result.

  • 1 · Strings and the cold-morning window
  • 2 · Shading, bypass and blocking
  • 3 · Overcurrent protection for arrays
  • 4 · Grounding, bonding and surge
  • 5 · Grid-tie
  • 6 · Hybrid and AC-coupled
  • 7 · Three-phase
  • 8 · Commissioning and the code

Lesson topics

193 interactive lessons and classic circuits, each with theory, live measurements against the expected values, and things to try:

All lessons

Bench builds

66 complete gadgets with a parts list, a guided build, a test sheet with pass ranges and fault-finding practice:

Parts bin

Power sources: DC adapter, DC barrel plug (bare wires), Current source, Three-phase supply, Utility grid, Variac, Isolation transformer.

Ideal elements (theory): Voltage-controlled voltage source, Voltage-controlled current source, Current-controlled voltage source, Current-controlled current source, Formula source, Ideal switch, Coupled inductors.

Schematic symbols: Net label, Ground symbol, Voltage rail.

Logic (ideal): Logic input, Logic gate, Flip-flop, Logic output.

Batteries & cells: 9 V battery, AA cell, 18650 Li-ion cell, 21700 Li-ion cell, LiFePO4 cell, LiFePO4 prismatic cell, LiFePO4 prismatic cell 50 Ah, LiFePO4 prismatic cell 105 Ah, Flat Li-ion battery, 18650 battery holder, LiFePO4 battery, Lead-acid battery, Battery pack, Battery capacity indicator, Battery monitor with shunt (coulomb counter), Low-voltage disconnect (12 V, 30 A), ER14505 lithium cell.

Charging & BMS: LiFePO4 charger, TP4056 charger module, TP5000 charger module, 1S protection board, 1S 10 A protection board, 2S BMS, 3S BMS, 3S 40 A BMS, 4S Li-ion BMS, 6S Li-ion BMS, 7S Li-ion BMS, 10S Li-ion BMS, 13S Li-ion BMS, 1S LiFePO4 protection board, 4S LiFePO4 BMS 20 A, 4S LiFePO4 BMS, 4S LiFePO4 BMS 100 A, 8S LiFePO4 BMS, 8S LiFePO4 BMS 100 A, 16S LiFePO4 BMS, 3S LiFePO4 BMS.

Solar & inverters: Solar panel, Small poly panel, Solar charge controller, Power inverter, Grid-tie inverter, Hybrid solar inverter.

Regulators & converters: Switching power supply, CC/CV buck module, 7805 regulator, LM317 / LM338 regulator, Step-down converter, USB step-down module, USB step-down module (ZCL-B53), DC UPS / ATS module, Transformer, AMS1117 regulator, 7905 negative regulator, MT3608 boost module, TPS61088 boost module, Power-bank boost module, XL6009 buck-boost module, PWM controller + gate driver, HT7333 LDO, Boost PFC stage.

Passive components: Resistor, Potentiometer, Photoresistor (LDR), Electrolytic capacitor, Supercapacitor, Film capacitor, Toroidal inductor, Ceramic capacitor, Variable capacitor, Axial choke, Ferrite bead, Quartz crystal, NTC thermistor, PTC thermistor, MOV varistor, Aged electrolytic.

Diodes & transistors: Signal diode, Schottky diode, Rectifier diode, Zener diode, Bridge rectifier, LED, LED board, SMD LED, NPN transistor, PNP transistor, N-channel MOSFET, Germanium diode, TVS diode, P-channel MOSFET, N-channel JFET, IGBT, Matched transistor pair, BSS138 N-MOSFET, 8205A dual N-MOSFET.

Thyristors: SCR (thyristor), TRIAC, DIAC, UJT (unijunction), Neon lamp.

Optoelectronics: Photodiode, Phototransistor, Optocoupler, Opto-TRIAC driver, IR LED, IR receiver, RGB LED, WS2812 LED strip.

ICs & op-amps: Op-amp, Comparator, 555 timer, LM339 quad comparator, NE5532 low-noise op-amp, TL431 reference, LM386 audio amp, ULN2003 driver, DW01 Li-ion protector, ATECC608 secure element.

Microcontrollers & modules: Arduino Uno R3, Arduino Nano, ESP32 DevKit, ESP32-S3 DevKitC-1, Raspberry Pi Pico 2, LILYGO T-SIM A7670E R2, Orange Pi One, Coin acceptor, Coin slot (₱5 only), I2C LCD, MAX7219 8-digit display, ILI9341 2.8" TFT (SPI), 1.69" IPS TFT (ST7789), OLED display (I²C), MPU-6050 IMU, BME280 environment sensor, Hobby servo, GPS module, 4G LTE module, MAX485 RS-485 module, microSD card module, DS3231 RTC module (ZS-042), L298N motor driver, DRV8833 motor driver, INA219 current sensor, ACS712 Hall current sensor, HX711 load-cell ADC, PAM8403 class-D amp, Relay module, nRF52832 BLE module, E-paper display 1.54".

Sensors: DS18B20 temperature sensor, LM35 temperature sensor, MAX6675 thermocouple module, PIR motion sensor, Ultrasonic distance sensor, Hall-effect switch, Reed switch, Soil moisture sensor, Microphone amplifier, Load cell, Water tank with probes, DHT22 temperature & humidity sensor.

Networking & PoE: 12 V Wi-Fi router, 12 V PoE router, Fiber modem (ONU), 12 V Wi-Fi access point, 5-port network switch, 8-port network switch, PoE adapter, Passive PoE injector.

Switches & protection: Fuse, Relay, Toggle switch, Changeover switch, Push button, Wall switch, AC breaker, RCD (30 mA), DC breaker, Resettable polyfuse, Stop button (NC), Contactor, Thermal flasher, Solid-state relay, Slide switch, Rotary encoder (KY-040), 4×4 keypad, Limit switch, Emergency stop, Fan speed switch, Bimetal thermostat, Thermal fuse, Hatch sealing loop, Surge protector (SPD).

Loads & appliances: Incandescent bulb, 12 V DC LED bulb, DC motor, Active buzzer, 220 V bulb, 220 V desk fan, Household appliance, Speaker, High-impedance earphone, Pilot lamp, Piezo disc (passive), Stepper motor (unipolar), Stepper motor (bipolar), Solenoid, Fluorescent lamp, Stand-fan motor (PSC), Storage water heater.

USB & power interfaces: USB charger / port, USB-to-serial adapter, USB-C PD charger, USB-C PD source controller, Synchronous buck converter IC, USB-C PD trigger + meter, Smartphone, USB-C breakout, Current-mode PWM controller, Flyback transformer, High-voltage N-MOSFET, Common-mode choke, NPN transistor, 300 V, LMR33630 buck regulator IC.

Connectors & wiring: Breadboard, Perfboard, Via, Printed circuit board, DC barrel jack, USB-A receptacle, Wall outlet, Net meter, Energy sub-meter, PZEM-004T v3.0 AC meter, Junction box (PH, PVC), Terminal junction box (EU / panel), Screw terminal block.

Digital logic: DIP switch module, Clock / pulse generator, Logic indicator LED, Logic probe, Hex display (decoded), 7-segment display, 74xx00, 74xx02, 74xx04, 74xx08, 74xx32, 74xx86, 74xx74, 74xx107, 74xx393, 74xx161, 74xx164, 74xx4511, CD4017 decade counter, 74HC595 shift register, 74HC14 Schmitt inverter.

Packaging & mounting: TO-220 heatsink, Project enclosure, DIN rail (35 mm), M3 standoff.

Instruments: Oscilloscope, Logic analyzer (8 channels), Schematic sheet, Function generator, Electronic load, DC watt meter, Clamp meter, LCR meter.

Free calculators

Community projects

Anyone can publish a circuit from the lab with a public link, an embed code for a blog or course page, and a key to update it later. Browse what others built at /projects, open a project, run it and make your own copy. The lab also imports Wokwi projects (diagram.json and the sketch) and runs the same circuit with real part limits: currents, heat, batteries.

Open the lab