An efficient smart solar charge controller for standalone energy systems

Abstract

The paper presents a reliable high power density smart solar charge controller (SCC) for standalone energy systems. In this project, a low cost high power density solar charge controller with the function to disconnect the battery during overcharging or deep-discharging and to protect the load during overvoltage or high-current as well as to reconnect the battery or load when the faults are removed is proposed. The proposed solar charge controller is equipped with LCD to display the state of charge (SOC), battery voltage, charging current and load current. These are used to obtain the accurate and efficient disconnecting/ reconnecting action which is capable of protecting the battery and load whereas LED indicator is featured to show the status of the systems. All control functions are implemented in software with a single-chip 32-bit microcontroller. This solar charge controller is developed to make high efficient and reduce the current market price of charge controller to an affordable level. For verification of the proposed solar charge controller, the 1.2kW prototype has been built and tested.