Low cost solar energy converter for isolated load and/or battery charging

Abstract

Solar panels are good alternative energy sources for isolated load. Considering the high cost of electrical energy available such sources, it is worthwhile to economize in its capital cost. A low-cost DC-DC converter can be very attractive in such a case. The project will start from literature research of solar cells, maximum power tracking (MPPT), DC-DC converter and charge regulator system. The project also aims to design equivalent circuits of the solar cells, MPPT, DC-DC converter and solar regulator. The simulation of the various equivalent circuits is conducted using PSIM software tools. This project deals with the design and simulation of a simple but efficient solar array system with a DC-DC converter with a maximum power point tracker to track the maximum power of the solar array. The solar array would get the maximum power to then charge a battery. A charge regulator is added to the solar array system to prevent the charged battery from overcharging. Therefore the goal of this project is to perform a systematic analysis, modeling and evaluation of the key subsystems or components of a solar array system and to develop an optimal tracking and control strategy.