Friday 23 March 2018

MPPT SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER


What Is MPPT 

Solar panels collect energy from the sun and convert it to electricity. Because the sun is not consistent throughout the day, the output power from the solar cell is also not constant. 
 A special method is used to harvest enough electricity from the sun. This method is known as MPPT which stands for Maximum Power Point Tracking. MPPT is far better than PWM. It is an electronic system designed to force the solar panels to produce and deliver their maximum available power. In a solar-powered battery charging system, it is done by varying the ratio between the voltage and current delivered to the battery. For instance, if there is excess power harvested from the panels during high Sun conditions, the MPPT converts it to additional current to charge the battery much faster.

 MPPT circuit using 18f series

MPPT stands for Maximum Power Point Tracking and the best charge controller for off grid solar power system. It is a DC to DC electronic converter system that captures the most power from the PV modules by converting the module operating voltage to battery voltage and raise the output current in the process.  

All PV modules are rated in Watts which the max power they can produce with a good sunlight. Multiply the operating voltage (Vmp) by the operating current (Imp) listed on the label  will give you the wattage of the module.


For example, take 100 Watt solar module is rated at 5.5 amps at 18 volt V. 
power of panel: 18 X 5.5 = 100 Watts.
 


The PV module MUST operate at 18 volts and 5.5 amps only give output 100Watt of power. It is important to understand that a solar module is a constant current device. That means for a given amount of sunlight, the current stays the same but the voltage can be pulled down by a load.
 
MPPT can raise the voltage and current through the DC to DC conversion process by exchanging current and voltage to get the maximum PV power (Watts).  Example: 100 Volts at 1 amp = 100 Watts; 10 volts at 10 amps = 100 Watts; 1 volt at 100 amps = 100 Watts. 





MPPT circuit using PIC 16F series







 

MPPT charge controller uses the DC to DC conversion  process to lower the voltage close to the battery voltage while raising the current. As long as the voltage reaching the MPPT controller is higher than the battery voltage by about 5% or more, then the MPPT output current will be higher than the input.  In the above system, the MPPT displays the performance of the circuit in the LCD.
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