Photovoltaic MPPT Charge Controller

In this paper Maximum power point tracker battery charger is proposed for extracting maximum power from a photovoltaic panel to charge the battery. The output power of the PV system continuously varies with change in irradiance and temperature. It is very important to improve the efficiency of charger. There are number of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods available to operate the PV system at maximum power point. The proposed system have used Perturb & Observe (P&O) MPPT algorithm for the design and implementation. When irradiance and temperature are constant or slowly varying, the P&O method tracks MPP steadily and calculate the operating point at which the battery is capable of producing maximum power. In this method, the controller provides the PWM signal to adjust the voltage, adjustment is done by Buck converter and measures power, if the power increases, further adjustments in that direction are tried until power no longer increases.

This paper describes how to implement MPPT using the most popular switching power supply topology. There are many published works on this topic, but only a tiny portion of them show how to actually implement the algorithms in hardware, as well as state common problems and pitfalls. In our work to keep the design simple we have used Arduino Nano. It has features like: LCD display, Led Indication and it is equipped with various protections to protect the circuitry from abnormal condition. This design is suitable for a 50W solar panel to charge a commonly used 12V lead acid battery. As the maximum power point (MPP) of photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems changes with changing atmospheric conditions (e.g. solar radiation and temperature), an important consideration in the design of efficient PV systems is to track the MPP correctly. We have implemented the most common MPPT algorithm named Perturb and Observe (PO) to control the output of a synchronous buck-converter.

Solar Collectors and Panels, Theory and Applications, 2010

2015 IEEE 24th International Symposium on Industrial Electronics (ISIE), 2015

In photovoltaic standalone systems it is crucial to absorb most of the available energy. Thus, in order to extract the maximum power of a solar panel for a given set of climatic conditions, it is used maximum power point tracker (MPPT). The MPPT consists in a power converter which controls the solar panel voltage. In this context, this work compares the instantaneous and dynamic efficiency of three MPPT algorithms proposed in literature: perturb and observe, dP -perturb and observe and modified perturb and observe used in a photovoltaic standalone systems. The system analyzed is composted by a 48 W solar panel, a battery of 60 Ah and a charger based on a buck converter. During solar irradiance variations the algorithms presented different instantaneous efficiencies, what can produce reduction in energy absorbed during cloudy days.

2008 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, 2008

This work deals with the design and a prototype implementation of a real time maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for photovoltaic (PV) panel aiming to improve energy conversion efficiency. This MPPT algorithm is integrated in the charging process of lead-acid batteries making an autonomous system that can be used to feed any autonomous application. The photovoltaic system exhibits a non-linear i-v characteristic and its maximum power point varies with solar insolation and temperature. To control the maximum transfer power from a PV panel the Perturbation and Observation (P&O) MPPT algorithm is executed by a simple microcontroller ATMEL ATTINY861V using the PV voltage and current information and controlling the duty cycle of a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal applied in to a DC/DC converter. The schematic and design of the single-ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC) is presented. This DC/DC converter is chosen because the input voltage can be higher or lower than the output voltage witch presents obvious design advantages. With the P&O MPPT algorithm implemented and executed by the microcontroller, the different charging stages of a lead-acid battery are showed and executed. Finally, experimental results of the performance of the designed P&O MPPT algorithm are presented and compared with the results achieved with the direct connection of the PV panel to the battery.

In this paper various Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques are proposed. Maximum power point tracking is used for extracting the maximum power from the Solar photovoltaic module (SPV). Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms are used for achieving maximum power point. Microcontroller is used for control of the MPPT algorithm. Perturb & Observe method is used to operate the PV system at maximum power point. The Perturb & Observe method tracks Maximum power point (MPP) steadily and calculate the operating point at which battery is capable to produce maximum power. The project aims to design Buck converter & development of MPPT algorithm using Microcontroller programming.

The main aim is to design a simple but effective charge controller with maximum power point tracking to provide higher efficiency and to protect the battery from getting damaged. Implementing a MPPT algorithm in charge controller is necessary because the current-voltage characteristics of solar PV arrays are non-linear where at a particular point the power output is max. So to extract the maximum power from the solar PV system, implementation of MPPT algorithm is must.

IJIREEICE, 2016

This paper deals with the implementation of maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for solar panel along with safe battery charging algorithm for lead acid battery. This is a stand-alone system with incremental conductance MPPT algorithm and can be used for stand-alone application. Single ended primary inductor converter (SEPIC) is used to match the impedance of solar panel and battery to deliver maximum power. Voltage and current from the solar panel is sensed and duty cycle of gating signal is varied accordingly by the algorithm to attain maximum power transfer.

International Journal of Renewable Energy Research, 2014

The energy produced by the photovoltaic systems is very intermittent and depends enormously on the weather conditions. This is why it is important to find a way to store this energy. This paper proposes a design and implementation of a photovoltaic power generation system controller. So as to extract maximum power from the PV panel, the proposed system controls both the boost converter and the battery charger using a microcontroller. The proposed solution is based on the PIC16F877 microcontroller. Experimental results, based on the MCU are agreed with the Matlab/Simulink simulation.

TRKU, 2020

The limited availability of resources to meet day-today increase in power demand due to the limitations of conventional energy resources have become the concern of every nation. An unpleasant case is that of Nigeria where the power supply depends mainly on hydro, leading to inefficient power generation and distribution. In this research, a charge controller with Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) for photovoltaic system was implemented using a micro controller PIC 16F8768 and a prototype was constructed with an output voltage of 24 volts for optimum energy transfer throughout a day. Proteus 8.0 software was used for the task. The average of each term; voltage, current and power outputs were taken along their efficiencies for both dry season and rainy season. The MPPT is responsible for extracting the maximum possible output from the photovoltaic and feeding it into the load via the boost converter which step up the voltage to the required level. The performance characteristics of the charge controller with MPPT and without MPPT of the different output voltages were measured. Both output voltage and currentwith the MPPT and without MPPT were compared in terms of time (dry season and rainy season) and total power was evaluated. By using Proteus 8.0 software, the charge controller with MPPT was also simulated. Result shows that the efficiency of power without MPPT was 58.7% whereas with MPPT was60.33%. The charge controller with MPPT gives 5.632 W maximum power at 3:05 pm. The charge controller with MPPT has better performance even though this advantage is at the expense of additional components that make up the tracking unit of the charge controller system. Therefore, it can be recommended where the availability of grid is very low. Another advantage of using charge controller circuit with MPPT is that it supports portable operations where necessarily.