Looking for an option to sense ambient light? The VEML6030 Qwiic board is a great starter option. The VEML6030 is a high accuracy ambient light sensor with 16-bit resolution. Even more impressive is that it can detect light similar to the human eye response. Utilizing our handy Qwiic system, no soldering is required to connect it to the rest of your system. However, we still have broken out 0.1"-spaced pins in case you prefer to use a breadboard.

The SparkFun Ambient Light Sensor reads ambient light in lux and boasts a number of nice features including: the ability to set high and low thresholds for an optional interrupt, power saving features that enable single digit micro-amp current draw, and a readable range from zero to 120,000 lux. We've also written an Arduino library that gives full access to all features and includes example code demonstrating all its abilities.

Note: The I2C address of the VEML6030 is 0x48 and is jumper selectable to 0x10. A multiplexer/Mux is required to communicate to multiple VEML6030 sensors on a single bus. If you need to use more than one VEML6030 sensor consider using the Qwiic Mux Breakout.

The SparkFun Qwiic Connect System is an ecosystem of I2C sensors, actuators, shields and cables that make prototyping faster and less prone to error. All Qwiic-enabled boards use a common 1mm pitch, 4-pin JST connector. This reduces the amount of required PCB space, and polarized connections mean you can’t hook it up wrong.

Get Started with the SparkFun Ambient Light Sensor Guide

Features & Specs:

• Floor life: 72h, MSL 4, according to J-STD-020
• Low stand by current consumption: typically 0.5uA
• Configurable I2C address (Default: 0x48)
• Removable pull-up resistors
• Removable power LED
• Qwiic Connectors

Documentations:

• Schematic
• Datasheet (VEML6030)
• Libraries:
• Arduino
• Python / MicroPython / CircuitPython
• GitHub Hardware Repo

Package Includes:

• 1 x SparkFun Ambient Light Sensor - VEML6030 (Qwiic)