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This project is dedicated to Almighty God for his protection, kindness, strength over my life throughout the period and also to my --- for his financial support and moral care towards me.Also to my mentor --- for her academic advice she often gives to me. May Almighty God shield them from the peril of this world and bless their entire endeavour Amen.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The successful completion of this project work could not have been a reality without the encouragement of my --- and other people. My immensely appreciation goes to my humble and able supervisor mr. --- for his kindness in supervising this project.
My warmest gratitude goes to my parents for their moral, spiritual and financial support throughout my study in this institution.
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Solar charge controller limits the rate at which electric current is added to or drawn from solar panel to electric batteries. It prevents overcharging and may protect against overvoltage, which can reduce battery performance or lifespan, and may pose a safety risk. It may also prevent completely draining (“deep discharging”) a battery, or perform controlled discharges, depending on the battery technology, to protect battery life. The terms “charge controller” or “charge regulator” may refer to either a stand-alone device, or to control circuitry integrated within a battery pack, solar battery-powered device, or battery charger.

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION

1.1                                           BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Energy plays vital role for development in all sectors. With depletion of fossil fuels used for power generation and increase in demand for power, the gap between supply and demand is becoming more. Renewable energy sources can only provide solution to face this energy crisis. Out of renewable energy options, solar energy is the most potential source for all tropical countries. Sun radiates 180 billion MW of energy over Earth Just one hour of this energy could meet power needs of entire planet for a year. India receives 5000 Trillion KWhrs of energy from SUN per annum. This energy is clean, pollution free and inexhaustible and is available free and in abundance. Basically the components involved in solar system are PV panel, DC-DC Converter, Battery, Inverter.
The PV panel produces electrical voltage/current from solar energy. This solar panel can produce more than the rated voltage to the battery which can be dangerous to the battery due to the high radiation of the sun. In order to tackle the present energy crisis it is necessary to develop an efficient manner in which power has to be extracted from the incoming solar radiation. The use of the newest power control mechanisms called solar charge controller was invented.
Solar Charge controller is basically a voltage and/or current regulator to keep batteries from overcharging.
Solar Charge Controller is fully configurable and developed to meet the highest industry standards to ensure maximal efficiency in retrieving energy from any PV system. When connected to solar panels and batteries, the solar charge controller automatically charges the batteries in an optimal way with all the available solar power. Solar charger controller's sophisticated three stage charge control system can be configured to optimize charge parameters to precise battery requirements. The unit is fully protected against voltage transients, over temperature, over current, reverse battery and reverse PV connections. An automatic current limit feature allows use of the full capability without worrying about overload from excessive current, voltage or amp-hour based load control.

1.2                                              STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
There are inherent power losses that occur when the solar is connected directly to a load/battery without matching their internal impedances for which in addition to the non-linear (I-V) operating characteristics of a PV module and variations in its output power with solar insolation and operating temperature; an MPPT charge controller is used in most solar power harvesting systems to ensure maximum rated power is drawn from the solar panel and delivered to the battery while charging it in a healthy mode to increase its lifespan and for efficiency purposes under varying atmospheric conditions.
Many are available commercially for high current ratings and relatively expensive so we are building a simple cheap, adaptable, elementary and durable one from first electronic principles that does the job quite as well and has the lucrative advantage that it can be deployed in rural homes and developing areas of the world for enterprises and households cheaper than conventional MPPT charge controllers from the leading industrial manufacturers.

1.3                                             OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
The main objectives of the study are outlined below:

• To design an efficient MPPT charge controller with a maximum charging rate of 20A.
• To implement a fast and fairly accurate maximum power point tracking algorithm, several of which will be discussed, that also charges a battery in stages for healthy battery status.
• To design the MPPT charge controller system to be Plug-and-Play, user-friendly and display the vital operational parameters of the system.

1.4                                         SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
Solar Charge controller is basically a voltage and/or current regulator to keep batteries from overcharging. It regulates the voltage and current coming from the solar panels going to the battery. Most "12 volt" panels put out about 16 to 20 volts, so if there is no regulation the batteries will be damaged from overcharging. Most batteries need around 14 to 14.5 volts to get fully charged.
Solar Charge controller may also monitor battery temperature to prevent overheating. Some charge controller systems also display data, transmit data to remote displays, and data logging to track electric flow over time.
1.5                               SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT
The main scope of project is, the photovoltaic cells are converting the sunlight in to electricity a charge controller is used. PV cells are bundled together in modules or panels to produce higher voltages and increased power. As the sunlight varies in intensity the electricity so generated usually charges through the charge a set of batteries for storing the energy. Controller in this project is used: To generate the variable PWM for DC-DC CONVERTER, to control the battery voltage and Controlling the load variation.
1.6                                                       PROJECT LAYOUT
The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis, the project is organized sequentially as follows:
Chapter one of this work is on the introductory part of this study. In this chapter, the background, significance, objective limitation and problem of this study were discussed.
Chapter two is on literature review of the study. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.
Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.
Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.
Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.

CHAPTER FIVE
5.0                    CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1                 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER WORK
A technical design is always restricted by time, budget and resources. This is a pragmatic dilemma faced in any real world occupation. This MPPT project experience was no exception similar challenges erupted affecting the overall project design. Throughout the project duration many practical challenges were faced from applying electrical circuit theory, to troubleshooting components and making due with unavailable components, to debugging software bug and designing an efficient PCB layout. However, improvisation was key and the project provided exposure to a variety of technical, electrical and mechanical disciplines. Albeit the existing design of the MPPT charge controller proved to be a major success, there is still room for improvement in certain aspects and features of the product. Some of the future improvements are discussed below.
The only algorithm tested and used was the P&O algorithm ,though it tracks the maximum power point, it theoretically is not the fastest under rapidly varying atmospheric conditions . Testing other robust and complex algorithms such as current sweep, fuzzy logic and neural network methods and finding the most efficient way to track the maximum power point or even creating a hybrid can be a future improvement work to this project and greatly enhance the software design robustness.
A hardware design improvement could be using a synchronous buck converter which has been discussed under the design. The rectifier diode D1 in this case would be replaced by a MOSFET and a dedicated MOSFET driver IR2104 can be used to drive the synchronous buck by toggling between turning them on based on its shutdown button while receiving only one input signal from the microcontroller. The IR2104 isn’t commercially readily available in the market and has to be imported. The synchronous buck converter is a trade-off between added cost of the MOSFET and improved efficiency by the MOSFET. The efficiency is improved since the diode has a large voltage drop of 0.7V while the MOSFET has a low static on resistance of about 20mΩ hence for large currents the diode has significantly larger power losses. The synchronous buck converter can thus be a future improvement work. A buck-boost converter could also be used so that the boost mode operation functions during low solar wattage periods.
The MPPT charge controller was implemented on a PCB. A design modification could be modifying and making the PCB layout more compact and effective in terms of spacing and hence saving copper losses with reduced track lengths. Maximizing the use of traces on both layers could create a neater project. More professional PCB design software which cost more can be used and the created product manufactured by experienced PCB manufacturers to create a more marketable product.
Several additional auxiliary devices can be added to increase the versatility. An irradiance sensor can be added to detect level of insolation so that the MPPT algorithm can account for power change due to change in insolation. The effects of partial shading can also be accounted for by the algorithm by use of particle swarm optimization incase clouds and tree/building shadows block solar cells from receiving the full sun insolation. Wi-Fi modules such as ESP8266, Xbee Modules and Bluetooth connectivity can also be incorporated to wirelessly transmit the data to a website or computer for  comprehensive data analysis. Since all analog pins have been used no additional analog devices may be used, unless an analog-to-digital (I2C) converter is added to the system. This shouldn’t be a problem since all I2C devices have a unique address, and up to 127 unique devices may be contained on a single I2C bus.
There are many ventures that can emerge from the improvement design of the MPPT charge controller in the endeavor of building a more versatile product. No design is ever perfect and some of the imperfections that easily came to mind and their solutions have been discussed and there surely are more improvements not thought of that will come into horizon with future technology advances. All the improvements can be undertaken by increasing the budget, timeframe or even project scope. With such small improvements this can be the foundation of future contributions to small, mass-scale and affordable renewable energy projects in the energy discipline.

5.2                    CONCLUSION

The project goal focused on creating a MPPT charge controller with a maximum charging current of 20A to help encourage the use of renewable energy in the form of solar power throughout the world by building a basic, cheap, adaptable, elementary and durable one. An introduction to solar panels and their electrical characteristics has been presented in the literature review. The P-V and I-V curves of the solar panel were of noteworthy importance and based on these characteristics, the significance of maximum power point tracking has been shown. This was followed by carefully designing the hardware and software that constitute an MPPT charge controller in order to address the challenges of the non-linearity in a solar panel power curve. A buck converter was decided on, with a perturb and observe algorithm implementing the tracking. The controller was first tested in Proteus8.1 and PSIM, it was then assembled by testing of each of the module blocks that constituted the charge controller.
The experimental graphs and tables have been presented validating the performance and functionality of the MPPT charge controller in tracking and delivering peak power while also charging the battery healthily. The final product was then tested by connecting a 100W solar panel and a 12Vbattery load. Once the functionality of the MPPT charge controller was proven while on a breadboard, it was printed on a circuit board to save on space, have a neat simple outlay and for portability. From the results the values of current and voltages got from the solar panel were not as high as expected for a 100W solar panel but that was because the solar panel was faulty from the nameplate though it specified 100W peak, the Vmp was 17.2V and Imp was 1.17A giving a maximum power of 20W. On carrying out open and short circuit tests Voc was 21.6V and Isc was 3.0A. The faulty rated solar panel coupled with cloudy weather gave relatively lower readings for a 100W solar panel, despite this a curve was able to be traced for the solar panel by changing the duty cycle of the MOSFET switch.
The design on the PCB was also done in a way to make the charge controller efficient, safe (by using protection devices) and adaptable - by using DIP sockets so that the microcontroller can be replaced easily and reprogrammed for updates; the incorporation of a keypad made the charge controller more adaptable and robust since the user can set different operating points for different battery and panel ratings. Finally, a financial analysis of building the MPPT charge controller was done showing that it could be built at a relatively cheap price of $43(Ksh4386), yet would still be robust enough to handle the power with the common added ancillary functionality such as temperature compensation ,low voltage disconnect when loaded and user customizable charging. The project was a success meeting the project goals of a simple, efficient, adaptable and affordable charge controller which has many applications in developing countries encouraging the use of renewable energy for cheaper energy and helping the global cause of keeping the environment clean. This is a huge milestone in combatting the world energy crisis and global warming

 

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CHAPTER TWO: The chapter one of this work has been displayed above. The complete chapter two of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" is also available. Order full work to download. Chapter two of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" consists of the literature review. In this chapter all the related work on "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" was reviewed.

CHAPTER THREE: The complete chapter three of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" is available. Order full work to download. Chapter three of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" consists of the methodology. In this chapter all the method used in carrying out this work was discussed.

CHAPTER FOUR: The complete chapter four of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" is available. Order full work to download. Chapter four of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" consists of all the test conducted during the work and the result gotten after the whole work

CHAPTER FIVE: The complete chapter five of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" is available. Order full work to download. Chapter five of "design and construction of solar charge controller using arduino microcontroller (atmega328 microcontroller)" consist of conclusion, recommendation and references.

 

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