MPPT charge controller

A MPPT charge controller is the charge controller with power electronic control device designed to control by microprocessor embedded with MPPT algorithm firmware to maximize the amount of current going into the battery from PV panels.
A MPPT charge controller works as DC-DC converter by using know how of PV panel and battery characteristics to get the highest conversion power output from PV panels and safely charge battery.

The converter is classified into two types:

1. Boost regulator; The PV input voltage is less than the battery voltage in system.
2. Buck regulator; The PV input voltage is greater than the battery voltage in system.

The MPPT algorithm can be applied to both of them depending on the design of system. Normally, for battery system voltage is equal or less than 48 volts, use the Buck regulator, and for battery system voltage is greater than 48 volts, use the Boost regulator.

Main features of MPPT charge controller

• In applications where PV panels are energy source, the MPPT charge controller is used to correct for variations in the current-voltage characteristics of the solar cell and shown by I-V curve.
• It is necessary to implement the MPPT charge controller in order to move the PV panels operating voltage close to the peak power point for drawing the maximum available power from PV panels.
• The MPPT charge controller allows the users to use a PV panel with a higher voltage output than operating voltage of the battery system. For example, if the PV panel has to be placed far away from the charge controller and battery, the wire size must be very large to reduce the voltage drop. With a MPPT charge controller, users can wire the PV panel for 24 or 48 volts (depending on the charge controller and PV panels) and bring the power into a 12 or 24 volts battery system. This means it reduces the wire size needed while retaining the full output of PV panels. It is a significant savings.
• The MPPT charge controller reduces the complexity of the system while the output of the system is high efficiency. Additionally, it can be modified to handle more energy sources. Because the PV panels output power is used to control the DC-DC converter directly.
• The MPPT charge controller can be applied to other renewable energy sources such as small water turbines, wind-power turbines, etc.

 

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