2021 International Conference on Advances in Electrical, Computing, Communication and Sustainable Technologies (ICAECT) | 978-1-7281-5791-7/20/$31.

00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICAECT49130.2021.9392426

Design and Development of Solar Charge

Controller by Implementing two different MPPT
Algorithm
1
Parag K. Atri, 1P. S. Modi and 2Nikhil Shashikant Gujar
1
Electrical Engineering Department, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, INDIA
2
Research And Development, Electrical Research And Development Association, Vadodara, INDIA
E-mail : parag.atri8@gmail.com, ps_modi@yahoo.com, nikhil.gujar@erda.org

Abstract : In this paper, MPPT methods such as Perturb and available to store energy that can be utilized during the
Observe (P&O), Incremental Conductance and Fractional night time to supply the loads or dc-microgrid.
Open Circuit Voltage method has been studied and
simulated with MATLAB simulation software and tested II. PROPOSED SYSTEM
with different irradiance condition. Also, two converter
topology, Buck and Synchronous buck converter has been
studied. Hard implementation of the solar charge controller Solar PV Panel
is done based on the software simulation data and results. Solar panel with 320 W power capacity, 45 Volt of open
Hardware is developed for 1kW system and 48V, 100Ah circuit voltage (VOC) and 9.28 A short circuit current (ISC),
battery is going to be charged with it. Two MPPT method four such solar PV panels have been connected in series
with synchronous buck converter has been implemented in connection in order to make 1kW system.
hardware. This designed hardware has been tested with
different irradiance condition. This proposed system can be Battery
used in golf cart to make it a stand-alone system with taking Lithium-ion battery with 48 V and 100Ah capacity is
care of all protection measures.
going to be charge with this solar charge controller.
Keywords—Solar charge controller, MPPT, synchronous buck
converter, battery charger, charge controller MPPT Charge Controller
It is an algorithm comprised in the micro controller for
I. INTRODUCTION bring out the maximum available power from the PV
panel and transfer maximum available power from the PV
Solar energy is one of the promising sources of renewable module to the battery (as load). MPPT is an electrical
energy. That’s the reason why new innovations are arrangement that changes the module’s electrical
evolving using day by day using solar. But this renewable operating point so that the modules can offer the
energy is depended on the atmospheric condition such as maximum available power [1], [3] & [4]. This would
sun irradiance and temperature. And due to this a solar increase solar panel capacity and usable electricity.
PV panel has to be operate in specific condition in order
to get maximum power from it. So, operating the solar PV The developed MPPT charge controller is placed between
panel at its maximum power point is the one of the the solar panel and the battery. MPPT charge controller is
trending topics for research over the decades. a controller with MPPT technique inside and sensing
parameter[4]. Fig. 1 shows block diagram of the system.
For solar power generation efficiency is major concern.
Due to the less efficiency of solar PV panel, a proper
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method is
necessary. There are many MPPT techniques available to
find the maximum power point in which the aim of
method is to operate the PV panel at its available
maximum power [1].

By using solar PV panel, converter and battery,

standalone system can be formed which work by itself.
By applying proper controlling circuit and MPPT
(maximum power point tracking) method, efficiency of
system & performance can be boost up. In stand-alone Fig. 1 Function diagram of solar battery charger
system, battery storage plays an essential part [2]. The
batteries can be used during daytime when solar energy is

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 Perturb and Observe method (P & O) Using equation (1) and (4),
In this method, a small perturbation is added to cause the  dI 
power variation of the PV module[1], [3], [5] & [6]. The I V  0 (5)
 dV 
output of solar panel is periodically measured and
compared with previous power. In this process the output dI I
 (6)
power of the solar panel is increases, then the same dV V
process continue otherwise perturbation is reversed. Fig. 2
shows the flow chart of the P & O method. Here, Instantaneous conductance is the ratio of the current
and voltage at instant and Incremental conductance is the
ratio of the difference of the current and voltage [1], [4],
[9]. Equation (2) gives the condition of maximum power
point for IC method. At the MPP incremental
conductance is negative of instantaneous conductance.
This algorithm has benefits over P&O, as it can evaluate
when the MPPT hits the MPP, where P&O oscillates
around the MPP [7], [9] & [10]. Flow chart of this method
is shown in the Fig. 3.

Fractional Open Circuit Voltage method (FOCV)

It is one of the indirect methods to find maximum power
point tacking method. This approach uses the idea that the
ratio of the array voltage to the maximum power point
(Vmp) and the open circuit voltage (Voc) is almost
constant[1], [3], [11] & [4].
Vmp
 0.78 (7)
Voc

Fig. 2 Flow chart algorithm of P&O

Incremental Conductance method (IC)

The drawback of the Perturb and Observe (P & O)
method for measuring maximum power under
increasingly changing atmospheric conditions is resolved
by the Incremental Conductance method. The principle of
the Incremental Conductance method is that the point at
which the slope of the PV panel power curve is zero is
called as the maximum power point[1], [6], [7], [8] & [4].

dP
0 (1)
dV
As P  I (V ) *V (2)
dP  dV   dI 
I  V   (3)
dV  dV   dV 
dP  dI 
 I V   (4)
dV  dV 
Fig. 3 Flow chart algorithm of IC method

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 III. SOFTWARE SIMULATION Table II Comparison of different MPPT methods with SBC and
different irradiance condition
MATLAB simulation/Simulink model of the solar battery
charge with Incremental Conductance MPPT method and FOCV method P&O method IC method
Irradiance Settling Settling Settling
SBC (Synchronous Buck Converter) is shown in Fig. 4. (W/m2) time
η
time
η
time
η
All three MPPT methods with buck converter and SBC (%) (%) (%)
(sec) (sec) (sec)
(Synchronous Buck Converter) have been simulated in the 1000 0.46 93.7 0.36 96.4 0.30 97.1
MATLAB simulink. 800 0.79 92.5 0.62 96.3 0.56 96.4
600 1.19 92.0 1 95.5 0.95 96

IV. HARDWARE IMPLIMENTATION

Hardware design is done based on the software simulation

results and practical circuit consideration.

Voltage sensor
Resistance divider circuit is followed by op-amp is used
as voltage sensor circuit. Here op-amp is used to provide
isolation and it will prevent circuit from signal loading.
LM358 IC is used as op-amp. In this IC two op-amp
circuit is there. One is used in solar side and another is
used in battery side. Input voltage from solar panel is
varying between 140V to 180V. The ADC pin of
microcontroller have the max voltage capacity up to 5V
or 3.3V according to the microcontroller.
Fig. 4 Software Simulation of Solar battery charger
Current sensor
Different MPPT method with two converter topologies ACS712 current sensor is used for sensing of current
have been simulated using MATLAB Simulink software which is a hall effect-based sensor. The sensed current
and simulation results have been stated in below table. generates an analog signal as output which is proportional
Also, this simulation, MPPT methods with sync buck to the corresponding current and the output analog signal
converter[12] is tested with different irradiance condition is fed to the microcontroller board.
to realize the performance of the solar battery charger with
different atmospheric condition. It is shown in Table II. Isolated Power Supply
In order to make standalone system, power supply to the
Table I Simulation results of different MPPT methods with two
auxiliary or controlling circuit is provided via battery
converter topologies
which is ultimately a load. So, supply to the TLP250
Settling driver IC, voltage and current sensor is provided with the
MPPT Complex Sensed Converge η help of battery. As we connect battery to the controlling
time
techniques ity parameters s speed (%)
(sec) circuit, isolation must be provided in order to protect the
P&O with controlling circuit. Also, battery voltage is higher than the
Buck Low V Moderate 0.366 95.5
converter
required voltage to supply the auxiliary. So, step down
P&O with converter is needed with higher input voltage range and
Sync give constant output voltage. For that purpose, MEAN
Low V Moderate 0.374 96.6
Buck WELL dc to dc isolated converter is used. This module
converter
has the input range of 35V to 70V and gives the constant
IC with
Buck
Moderat
V and I Fast 0.362 95.3 output of ±15V.
e
converter
IC with Microcontroller
Sync Moderat Choosing the right microcontroller for a project is always
V and I Fast 0.361 97.1
Buck e
converter a complex decision to make, because it is the core of the
FOCV project and it depends on it for system success or failure.
with Buck Low V Low 0.46 93.5 So single chip of microcontroller is not used in every
converter application. All of these microcontrollers have identical
FOCV
with Sync
features and comes with different package size, different
Low V Low 0.46 93.7 size of RAM and ROM, various instructions set, different
Buck
converter architecture, register etc. According to the requirement
and performance of the controller, Arduino MEGA 2560

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 microcontroller is used in the application. microcontroller and isolated power supply for sensor and
driver IC.
System Flow-chart
Programming of Incremental conductance and Perturb
and Observe MPPT methods is done on the
microcontroller to compare the performance of the both
method with synchronous buck converter. PWM (Pulse
Width Modulation) signal generates with the help of
MPPT method to control the firing of the MOSFET which
is used in the synchronous buck converter. Solar charge
controller will work on the following flow chart. CC and
CV mode of charging is decided according to the battery
voltage. First battery voltage is measured and the mode of
charging is decided.

Fig. 6 Experimental setup of proposed system

Testing and Results

Solar array simulator is set to 1kW to charge 48V, 100 Ah
battery. System is analyzing with 1kW power and with
different irradiance condition. Fig. 7 shows the solar sun
simulator software interface with 1kW power while
running. Also, P-V and I-V curve of solar PV panel is
shown in Fig. 7. Red dot on curve shows the operating
point of system so by looking at the operating point it is
observed that system is running at maximum power point.
Solar panel voltage, current, power and tracking
efficiency is also displayed on the screen.

Fig. 5 System Flow chart of Solar charge controller

V. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND RESULTS

Laboratory setup Fig. 7 I-V and P-V curve set on PV simulator for IC method at
The Fig. 6 shows the laboratory setup for the hardware 1000W/m2 irradiance
testing. As shown in Fig. 6 input to the power circuit is
given by Solar simulator and output of the circuit is Two MPPT method have been tested with 1kW system.
attached to the lithium-ion battery. Synchronous buck Testing results of IC and P&O method with synchronous
converter is the mediator for transferring of power from buck converter at different irradiance condition is stated
solar to battery. Power circuit is synchronous buck in the Table III. and Table IV respectively. Experimental
converter and controlling circuit contains the sensor data of the irradiance condition, panel voltage, panel
circuit, MOSFET driver circuit, connection to the current, panel power, battery voltage and current,

horized licensed use limited to: NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS). Downloaded on September 26,2021 at 08:31:00 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions ap
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dc to dc synchronous buck converter has given best
desirable result. By using this hardware, we can charge
48V battery with 19A current with 89.96% efficiency.

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horized licensed use limited to: NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS). Downloaded on September 26,2021 at 08:31:00 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions ap