Mppt Panel
Mppt Panel
|
|
Sunforce 7 Amp Charge Controller $17.39 The Sunforce 60012 7 Amp Charge Controller prevents overcharging of 12-volt batteries. It is intended for use with 12-volt solar panels, and can handle up to 7 amps of array current and up to 100 watts of solar power. The controller is easy to use with a charging light that indicates that your battery is charging, and a green light that indicates a fully charged battery. The 60012 measures 4 x 1 x… |
|
|
Sunforce 60032 30 Amp Digital Charge Controller $78.52 Prevents overcharging of 12volt batteriesProtects battery from overcharge and dischargeFor use with 12 volt Solar Panels and batteries onlyHandles up to 30 Amps of Array currentHandles up to 500 Watts of solar powerMaintenance free protection of your solar panel and batteriesMaintains battery voltageMaintain 12 volt batteries in a fully charged state1 Year Warranty… |
|
|
Sunforce 60031 10 Amp Digital Charge Controller $32.52 The Sunforce 10 Amp Digital Charge Controller is the perfect solution to prevent the overcharging of 12V batteries. It protects the battery from both overcharge and discharge. This product is for use with 12 Volt solar panels and batteries only. The unit handles up to 10 Amps of array current, and 150 Watts of solar power. With an LCD digital display, this unit also allows for completely maintenan… |
|
|
Xantrex Charge Controller for DC Charging Sources – 40 Amp, Model# C40 $127.97 Whatever the charging source, this Xantrex charge controller is sure to meet your DC controller needs…. |
|
|
96WATTS Lithium Backup Battery 5V/12V $79.00 iSolar solar Charger 12VX8A Lithium Battery- Additional back up or Replacement… |
|
|
Sunforce 50048 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit $279.95 Dead batteries got you down? Soak up some sunshine with this 60 – watt Solar Kit! Solar power: efficient, abundant and FREE. Looking for a little juice? Solar may be the answer! These super-efficient crystalline Solar Panels were designed for use with cabins, outbuildings, RVs, boats… anywhere running electrical line is not practical. A 7-amp charge controller and 200W inverter help use the sun’… |
|
|
Application of Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide Photovoltaic Cells to Extend the Endurance and Capabilities of the Raven RQ-11B Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Prior thesis work has demonstrated the possibility of extending the flight time of military Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAV) by 200% with the implementation of thinfilm photovoltaic (TFPV) cells. In this thesis, we investigate how thin-film photovoltaic cells, made out of Copper Indium Gallium Di-Selenide (CIGS) semiconductor materials and mounted on the wings of the Raven RQ-11B SUAV, provid… |
Solar Panels MPPT Charge Controller and 1500 watt Go power pure Sine Wave inverter part 2
Max Peak Power Trackers increase efficiency of Solar Panels in Street Lights
Executive Summary
Street lighting in many municipalities accounts for nearly half of the electrical expenditure. In addition to the energy bills, replacement and maintenance of low pressure sodium or metal halide lamps pose additional costs and disruption of traffic. High Brightness LED (HBLED) based Solar Powered street lights do not depend on the grid for electric power and have the potential of saving billions of dollars in electricity and maintenance costs.
Despite their possibilities, solar street lights are not commonplace because of their price compared to conventional
alternatives. Nevertheless, as the world looks for cleaner and greener alternatives, Solar Powered street lights continue to benefit from advancements in the field of semiconductors, both in photovoltaics and integrated microcontrollers, to produce more cost-effective implementations.
While the sun radiates up to 1000 Watts per square meter, a typical panel can convert only 30% of irradiant energy to
electricity. In most street lights, the energy harvested by day has to be stored in a battery and using conventional charge controllers can lead to further conversion losses. As solar panels are p-n junctions, they do not operate as ideal power sources. Instead, they have an operating point at which the power produced is at its maximum and any movement away from this point will progressively decrease the efficiency of the panel. In order to extract all the energy that a Solar Panel is capable of delivering, a fully electronic system called the Max Peak Power Tracker (MPPT) is required.
The MPPT is a DC-to-DC converter that poses as an optimum load allowing the panel to operate at its peak power state. Since the Max Peak Power Point (MPP) is dependent on the amount of radiant sunlight and temperature of the panel, the MPPT must constantly adapt to maximize the energy conversion.
The power produced by the panel (Voltage × Current) is highest at a specific point on the curve
called the knee point. When a conventional controller without an MPPT is used to charge the 24V battery pack, the operation voltage of this PV panel is forced to the battery voltage and as a result the power produced by this particular setup is around 140W.
An MPPT system on the other hand, will allow the panel to operate at the knee point allowing the power to be equivalent to 215W. In this particular example, the use of a MPPT system increases the total power harvested by 50%. Neglecting the losses in the wiring and electronics of the charge controllers and fuses, the current charging the battery in the above scenario is 8.5A ((VPV Panel x IPV Panel)/VBattery = (41V x 5A)/24V) while the current from the Solar Panel is 5A. The location of the solar panel’s knee point changes continuously based on factors such as the amount of irradiant sunlight available, ambient temperature, and partial shading. Therefore, a reliable MPPT must constantly update itself to operate at the varying ideal point. An MPPT capable of actively sensing the voltage and current can measure the power and, through an iterative and corrective process, arrive at the max power point.
In each perturbation, the system calculates its location on the slope by changing the current by a small measureable quantity – Iperbutation. If the change leads to a positive or negative slope in power output, the next perturbation decreases or increases the extracted current until the slope becomes zero.
The zero slope point on the curve always translates to the highest power extractable from the PV panel. The value of Itrim is varied proportional to the magnitude of the slope to allow the system to quickly approach this point. Such an algorithm enables the MPPT to successfully ‘hunt’ for the optimum operating point while being agnostic to any panel and environmental characteristics.
The DC-DC conversion topology used by the MPPT depends on the difference in operating voltage between PV panel and battery. Under normal charging conditions, if the panel voltage is greater than the battery, a buck topology is used. Conversely, if the panel voltage is lesser, a boost topology increases the charging voltage with a reduced current. In either case, the goal of the MPPT is to maintain the current extracted from the PV panel at the peak point. This relationship is given as MPP = VPV(knee point) × IPV (knee point) = Vbattery × Ibattery + Conversion Losses. The charging current or Ibattery depends on the duty cycle of the DC-DC convertor which is set by the controller based on the MPPT algorithm.
The Charge Controller must also consider the type of battery being used. Street lighting applications typically use either Lead Acid or Alkaline batteries because of their high energy density to cost ratio and ability to function over a wide range of temperatures. The voltage of these batteries has to be constantly monitored during the charging process to prevent over charging that may lead to damage in the form of leaks or explosions. Likewise, undercharging of a battery over extended periods of time can dramatically reduce the overall capacity of the battery. To prevent any product degradation, the system may disconnect all loads until the charge content reaches a predetermined threshold. Properly implemented charging routines are the key to the longevity of a battery. The inherent ability of the system to accurately control the current to the battery throughout the course of the day enables advanced charging routines and diagnostic functions. When the amount of irradiance reduces at dusk, the MPP of the PV panel will reduce until energy cannot be effectively collected from the panel. This condition corresponding to diminished ambient light can be detected by the system eliminating the need for an ambient light sensor. Once the MPPT operation is suspended, the system can automatically switch to driving the light source.
HBLEDs are today’s popular light sources for street-lighting applications. Their increased efficiency, low maintenance costs, and ability to reproduce a variety of color temperatures are some reasons behind their rapid adoption. Frequent replacement of bulbs is very costly and improved life span of HBLED light engines is an impetus behind their use. Streetlights typically produce more than 3000 lumens and need large numbers of individual HBLEDs. Since the diodes are connected in series to reduce current drift between individual strings, the net forward voltage of the LED string is usually greater than the battery voltage. In such cases, a boost topology can be employed to create a step-up convertor. A switching step-up DC-DC convertor works under similar principles as the charge controller with the relationship VLED String × ILED String = Vbattery × Ibattery - Conversion Losses.
Because MPPT and LED driving require DC-DC convertors, similar constant current hysteretic controllers can be used for both designs. An adjustable hysteretic controller with quick response time can be used to create a buck or boost topology
At the heart of the design is a programmable System on a Chip (SoC), which uses onboard analog resources to constantly measure VI characteristics of PV panel, battery and LED load. SoC devices like the PowerPSoC contain built in hysteretic controllers and gate drivers allowing for further integration of the control loops.
A proportional integral loop running on the microcontroller of the SoC device will enable accurate regulation of LED current. This driver implementation with properly chosen components can conveniently yield higher than 95% efficiency. Just the MPPT functionality on a PV Panel Charge controller can significantly improve the energy harvesting capability. Costs involved in moving away from conventional charge controllers are immediately relieved by savings in reduction of PV Panel Size. In addition, the high degree of analog control allows for better lifespan from the battery reducing associated maintenance costs. Integration of different fundamental blocks into programmable SoC devices allows for significant reductions in costs and time to market. As the world ushers in a green revolution, efficient and grid-independent street lights will illuminate the roads of tomorrow.
About the Author
Rakesh Reddy is a Senior Applications Engineer at Cypress Semiconductor Corp.
For more information on Power PSoC
