A Smart Solar Charge Controller Based on IOT Technology with Hardware Implementation

Abstract

This Paper presents the concept of a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) based Solar Charge Controllers (SCC) for charging a battery in stand-alone Solar Photo-voltaic (SPV) systems. A SCC is a battery charge regulator which is connected in between the SPV panel and the battery, the primary purpose of the SCC is to regulate the charging of the battery so that it charges correctly. PWM based SCCs may get the job done but they have very low efficiency as compared to MPPT based ones and thus waste a lot of SPV power. This fact has been analyzed in our article by executing the simulations for both the charge controller types and the efficiency of PWM was found to be only 65% whereas that of the MPPT based is 94%. Another useful feature in modern day SCCs and in our prototype is the facility to monitor the device parameters remotely on a wireless network which provides major flexibility to controllers. In this prototype model we have implemented MPPT based SCC along with one Wi-Fi module for monitoring the battery voltage, current, PWM pulses and battery status on smartphones. The user also gets notified about the battery status, whether the battery is charging or it is over charging. If the SPV voltage is more than 12V the relay disconnects the battery from the SPV cell and a notification regarding this is given to the user.