Part of a series in renewal energy technologies brought by M/s Paavi Solar
Friends, we have learned about solar PV Cells and Panels and its specification in detail. The second component of the Solar PV System where storage in the form of batteries has been provided in Off-Grid or Hybrid Solar PV System is Solar Charge Controller. Basic function of any charge controller is to limit the current(charge) supplied to the batteries for charging as the current supplied by Solar PV Panel is prone to fluctuations due to cloud/rain or shadows and to protect the batteries from overcharging, solar charge controllers are to be provided. Hence charge controllers act as regulator of current at a particular voltage and to safely charge a solar deep cycle battery.
Charge controllers have additional feature like
1. LVD (Low Voltage Disconnect) for disconnecting a load if it detects a low battery voltage and thus prevent over-discharging of batteries.
2. Reverse Current Blocking for blocking the drainage of battery charge towards solar panel during night hours and thus discharge of the batteries.
3. Additionally a charge the controller may have an Electric overload prevention feature and battery status display.
Types of Solar Charge Controller
1. 1. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) Charge Controller- A PWM Charge the controller is a standard charge controller and works on the principle of two-stage charging, in the first stage maintaining a safe maximum voltage for charging the batteries and when batteries are fully charged, then lowering the charging voltage for trickle charging. This two-stage charging is important for maintaining a battery voltage during the days of low load conditions. PWM charge controllers are best suited for small Solar Power Systems as it is difficult to maintain a matching voltage from Solar Panels and Batteries in a big Solar PV System. These charge controllers are cheaper. For PWM Charge controllers Battery and Panel voltages should match and hence these are least efficient.
2. 2. MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) Charge Controller- Unlike the PWM charge controller, these are complex systems and are costlier. These charge controllers can pair nonmatching voltages of Panels and Batteries and hence panel voltage can be way higher than the battery voltage. These charge controllers can track the maximum power supplied by panels and matches(decreases) the Voltage to the level of Batteries and hence increasing the current, thus maintaining the power output and hence are very efficient. There is a very low loss of electric energy during battery charging.
Charge controllers are connected to solar panels and batteries through DCDB.
-G P BOSE
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