Renewable Energy

Charge Controller for Solar Home System (SHS)

A 12V solar panel can have a maximum voltage of 17.5 or more. If batteries are charged with this high
voltage of solar panel, then the battery will start to overcharge. Due to constant overcharging, the internal
temperature of the battery will increase and the batteries are completely damaged. Besides this the 12 V dc
load like dc fan, LED bulb due to high voltage can get damaged easily. Solar charge controller prevents the
battery from overcharging by charging your battery with a constant voltage and constant current. In the
night time the voltage of the battery becomes more than the solar panel. As we know, current flows from
higher potential to lower potential. Therefore, in this condition, current flows from batteries to panel so the
charged battery starts to discharge. Solar Charge controller stops this reverse flow and thus prevents battery
from discharging.
In a Solar Home System, battery is charged through solar panel during day time and the charge thus stored
is used during night to supply load. The simple block diagram of SHS is shown below.

SHS Block diagram

From the figure, it is evident that the charge controller controls the battery as well as the load. During the
day time C.C. disconnects the load and the battery is charged through solar PV-when the battery is fully
charged, the C.C. automatically disconnects the battery. Also, when the sun-shine is strong, higher voltage
is generated from PV. In order to save battery from over voltage (H.V.D) or over-charge; the "C.C"
automatically disconnects the battery from solar P.V. When the battery is disconnected normally, battery
voltage goes down due to self-discharge. Under that condition, "C.C" reconnects the battery with the solar
PV during the sun shine hours. During night time, C.C disconnects the PV and connects the load with the
battery. As the battery is discharged through the load, its voltage falls. At a certain terminal voltage of the
battery, "C.C" disconnects the load. The voltage is known as L.V.D (Low Voltage Disconnect) to stop full
drainage of the battery. Also, D.O.D (Depth of discharge) of battery can be controlled through "C.C"
Normally "C.C" are operated by micro-controllers and its settings can be changed through programs.
Theory of operation of C.C:
1 t1 t1
T 0
V0  Vs
dt  Vs Vs  output from solar PV.
T
Vo  output from charge controller.
 K.Vs
By changing duty cycle, output of charge controller can be changed
t1
K duty cycle
T
t1  ON time
t 2  OFF time
1 Vs
If t1  t 2 , then K  and V0 
2 2
Types of charge controller:
Most charge controllers are a variation of one these four basic types:
• Shunt Regulator
• Series Regulator
• PWM Regulator
• MPPT Charge Controller
Shunt Regulator
Shunt regulators function by short circuiting the solar array when the battery reaches a set voltage. When
the battery voltage drops, the array is un-shorted and current is allowed to flow to the battery again. Shunt
regulators are generally solid-state and contain a blocking diode and a transistor. The solar array is shorted
by a transistor (or relay) and the blocking diode prevents the battery from being shorted at the same time.

Series regulators
Series regulators function by open circuiting the solar array when the battery reaches a set voltage. When
the battery voltage drops, the array is reconnected and current is allowed to flow to the battery again. Series
regulators generally use a relay or transistor to connect and disconnect the solar array.
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) comes into play when the battery bank is full. During charging, the
controller allows as much current as the PV panel/array can generate in order to reach the target voltage for
the charge stage the controller is in. Once the battery approaches this target voltage, the charge controller
quickly switches between connecting the battery bank to the panel array and disconnecting the battery bank,
which regulates the battery voltage holding it constant. This quick switching is called PWM and it ensures
your battery bank is efficiently charged while protecting it from being overcharged by the PV panel/array.

Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) charge controller

Maximum Power Point Tracking features an indirect connection between the PV array and the battery bank.
The indirect connection includes a DC/DC voltage converter that can take excess PV voltage and convert it
into extra current at a lower voltage without losing power. MPPT controllers do this via an adaptive
algorithm that follows the maximum power point of the PV array and then adjusts the incoming voltage to
maintain the most efficient amount of power for the system.

How to size battery?

The following steps are followed to size the batteries.
(i) Determine the load in Kwhr or w-hr/day (load energy)
(ii) Divide the load energy by system voltage (battery Voltage)
(iii) Determine Number of batteries by dividing load Ah by battery Ah.
Example 1:
If a system has 200Ah/day and the battery size is 100Ah/day, then number of batteries required =
200
2
100
Example 2:
A house has an energy demand of 218w-hr/day. What should be the capacity of battery? If a battery of 12v,
100AH is chosen; how many batteries will be required? D.0.D = 60%
Autonomy 3days required and battery efficiency = 80%
218 WH
Battery AH =  18.2AH
12V
For 3 days autonomy, total Battery AH required = 18.2  3 = 54.6 AH
For D.O.D 60% and   80%
 54.6
Total Battery AH required =  113 .75AH
0 .6  0 . 8
113.75
 Number of Batteries required =  2 numbers.
100

Solar Home System:

Solar home system is a stand-alone system, suitable for residential applications such as
home appliances, lighting, computer and water pump. Solar home system is generally designed
and sized to supply DC or AC electrical appliances. This consists of solar array or module
connected to solar charge controller, inverter and battery. The generated DC power is stored into
battery and converted to AC power for supplying to AC loads.
 Figure: Arrangement of Solar Home System
Functions of Different components of Solar Home system
Solar PV system includes different components that should be selected according to your system
type, site location and applications. The major components for solar PV system are solar charge
controller, inverter, battery bank, auxiliary energy sources and loads (appliances).
1. PV module or array: It converts sunlight into DC electricity.
2. Battery: Battery stores energy for supplying to electrical appliances when there is a
demand. It is used for backup power supply during period of cloudy days and during night.
Batteries are charged during the day and supply power to load.
 3. Solar Charge Controller: It regulates the voltage and current coming from the PV
panels and prevents battery overcharging and prolongs the battery life. Batteries are installed
with a microprocessor-based charge regulator to monitor voltage, temperature to regulate the
input output current to prevent overcharging and excessive discharge respectively.
4. Solar Inverter: Solar Inverter is a device capable to convert DC output of PV
panels into AC electricity. Inverters are typical components of solar electric systems since
solar panels generate DC electricity and most devices used in homes or offices operate on AC
voltage
Design of a Grid Tied Solar System:
In a grid connected solar system, power required by the load is supplied by solar or
grid or both together.
In this system, when the solar generation will be less than load requirements such as
in cloudy days, it will take energy from grid to support the load demand. Again, when the
solar generation will be greater than load requirements, the generated excess solar power will
be sent to the grid. This will reduce the electricity bill of the consumer and also give credit to
the investors by paying back their cost of investment.

Figure: A Grid Tied Solar System

Working of Grid Connected Solar System: The working of a Grid Connected Solar System can
be explained by four cases-

1. When solar generation is equal to the load requirement, then the loads are completely run
by the solar power. Here, the grid is also available but the power from the grid is not required at
this time.
 2. When solar generation is greater than the load requirement, then the generated solar
power will support the existing load first and the excess generated solar energy will be sent to the
grid. This is called the export to the grid.

3. When solar generation is less than the load requirement, then with generated solar power
the grid will also support to meet the existing load demand.

4. When there is no solar generation which is typically during night time, the grid will
supply power to meet the load requirement. This is called import to the grid.

Solar Net Metering System

Solar Net Metering is a utility billing mechanism that offers a credit to residential and
business customers who are making excess electricity with their solar panel systems and sending
it back to the grid
Working of Solar Net Metering System

If a residential customer has a PV system on the home's rooftop, it may generate more
electricity than the home uses during daylight hours. If the home is net-metered, the electricity
meter will run backwards to provide a credit against what electricity is consumed at night or other
periods where the home's electricity use exceeds the system's output. With net metering, the
homeowner is only billed for the “net” energy used each month, that is, the difference between the
energy produced by the solar power system and the energy consumed by the house over the
monthly billing period which means customers are only billed for their "net" energy use.
Solar Inverter

The Solar Inverter is an essential device in any solar power system. Its basic function of
the inverter is convert DC output of PV panels into AC electricity. The converted Alternating
Current power is used for running your appliances like the TV, Refrigerator, Microwave, etc. For
some particular applications, we can directly use the Direct Current power from the solar panel
such as LED night lights, a cell phone charger. Generally, the power of a home solar power system
is used for power AC loads.

Solar Inverter

Types of Solar Inverters:

There are a few types of solar inverters available in the market which includes the following.
Off Grid Inverters: Off grid inverters are used in remote systems wherein the solar inverter is
fed DC power from a battery panel. This battery panel is charged by solar panels. Several such inverters
have integrated with basic battery chargers which can be used to boost the battery from an AC power
source.

Off Grid Inverter

 Grid Tie Inverters: An inverter which is associated with the grid can be said to be a grid tie
inverter. These inverter feed power in the electricity grid by corresponding phase and frequency. And, the
frequency ranges 50Hz in India and 60Hz in North America of the o/p AC power with the effectiveness
supplied AC power. These inverters are designed to automatically shut down once sensing a loss of supply
from the utility.

Grid Tie Inverter

Battery backup Inverters: These special types of inverters are particularly designed to draw energy
from a battery. The charge of the battery is preserved by using an on-board charger and an additional
energy is transferred to the grid. Such inverters have the ability to provide AC power to particular loads
during power outages. They also have the anti-islanding function.

Battery backup Inverter

Micro Inverters: Micro inverters are modern in the solar industry. They are small, compact size
and portable with a lot of performance. They include all the features of any central inverters.

Micro Inverter
Solar PV system sizing
1. Determine power consumption demands
The first step in designing a solar PV system is to find out the total power and energy consumption of all loads that
need to be supplied by the solar PV system as follows:

1.1 Calculate total Watt-hours per day for each appliance used.
Add the Watt-hours needed for all appliances together to get the total Watt-hours per day which
must be delivered to the appliances.

1.2 Calculate total Watt-hours per day needed from the PV modules.
Multiply the total appliances Watt-hours per day times 1.3 (the energy lost in the system) to get
the total Watt-hours per day which must be provided by the panels.
2. Size the PV modules
Different size of PV modules will produce different amount of power. To find out the sizing of PV module, the total
peak watt produced needs. The peak watt (Wp) produced depends on size of the PV module and climate of site
location. We have to consider “panel generation factor” which is different in each site location. For Thailand, the
panel generation factor is 3.43. To determine the sizing of PV modules, calculate as follows:

2.1 Calculate the total Watt-peak rating needed for PV modules

Divide the total Watt-hours per day needed from the PV modules (from item 1.2) by 3.43 to get
the total Watt-peak rating needed for the PV panels needed to operate the appliances.

2.2 Calculate the number of PV panels for the system

Divide the answer obtained in item 2.1 by the rated output Watt-peak of the PV modules available
to you. Increase any fractional part of result to the next highest full number and that will be the
number of PV modules required.

Result of the calculation is the minimum number of PV panels. If more PV modules are installed, the system will
perform better and battery life will be improved. If fewer PV modules are used, the system may not work at all during
cloudy periods and battery life will be shortened.

3. Inverter sizing
An inverter is used in the system where AC power output is needed. The input rating of the inverter should never be
lower than the total watt of appliances. The inverter must have the same nominal voltage as your battery.
For stand-alone systems, the inverter must be large enough to handle the total amount of Watts you will be using at
one time. The inverter size should be 25-30% bigger than total Watts of appliances. In case of appliance type is motor
or compressor then inverter size should be minimum 3 times the capacity of those appliances and must be added to the
inverter capacity to handle surge current during starting.
For grid tie systems or grid connected systems, the input rating of the inverter should be same as PV array rating to
allow for safe and efficient operation.

4. Battery sizing
The battery type recommended for using in solar PV system is deep cycle battery. Deep cycle battery is specifically
designed for to be discharged to low energy level and rapid recharged or cycle charged and discharged day after day
for years. The battery should be large enough to store sufficient energy to operate the appliances at night and cloudy
days. To find out the size of battery, calculate as follows:

4.1 Calculate total Watt-hours per day used by appliances.

4.2 Divide the total Watt-hours per day used by 0.85 for battery loss.
4.3 Divide the answer obtained in item 4.2 by 0.6 for depth of discharge.
4.4 Divide the answer obtained in item 4.3 by the nominal battery voltage.
4.5 Multiply the answer obtained in item 4.4 with days of autonomy (the number of days that you
need the system to operate when there is no power produced by PV panels) to get the required
Ampere-hour capacity of deep-cycle battery.

Battery Capacity (Ah) = Total Watt-hours per day used by appliances x Days of autonomy
(0.85 x 0.6 x nominal battery voltage)
5. Solar charge controller sizing
The solar charge controller is typically rated against Amperage and Voltage capacities. Select the solar charge
controller to match the voltage of PV array and batteries and then identify which type of solar charge controller is
right for your application. Make sure that solar charge controller has enough capacity to handle the current from PV
array.
For the series charge controller type, the sizing of controller depends on the total PV input current which is delivered
to the controller and also depends on PV panel configuration (series or parallel configuration).
According to standard practice, the sizing of solar charge controller is to take the short circuit current (Isc) of the PV
array, and multiply it by 1.3
Solar charge controller rating = Total short circuit current of PV array x 1.3

Remark: For MPPT charge controller sizing will be different. (See Basics of MPPT Charge Controller)

Example: A house has the following electrical appliance usage:

One 18 Watt fluorescent lamp with electronic ballast used 4 hours per day.
One 60 Watt fan used for 2 hours per day.
One 75 Watt refrigerator that runs 24 hours per day with compressor run 12 hours and off 12 hours.

The system will be powered by 12 Vdc, 110 Wp PV module.

1. Determine power consumption demands

Total appliance use = (18 W x 4 hours) + (60 W x 2 hours) + (75 W x 24 x 0.5 hours)
= 1,092 Wh/day
Total PV panels energy needed = 1,092 x 1.3
= 1,419.6 Wh/day.

2. Size the PV panel

2.1 Total Wp of PV panel capacity
needed = 1,419.6 / 3.4
= 413.9 Wp
2.2 Number of PV panels needed = 413.9 / 110
= 3.76 modules
Actual requirement = 4 modules
So this system should be powered by at least 4 modules of 110 Wp PV module.
3. Inverter sizing
Total Watt of all appliances = 18 + 60 + 75 = 153 W
For safety, the inverter should be considered 25-30% bigger size.
The inverter size should be about 190 W or greater.
4. Battery sizing
Total appliances use = (18 W x 4 hours) + (60 W x 2 hours) + (75 W x 12 hours)
Nominal battery voltage = 12 V
Days of autonomy = 3 days
Battery capacity = [(18 W x 4 hours) + (60 W x 2 hours) + (75 W x 12 hours)] x 3
(0.85 x 0.6 x 12)
Total Ampere-hours required 535.29 Ah
So the battery should be rated 12 V 600 Ah for 3 day autonomy.

5. Solar charge controller sizing

PV module specification
Pm = 110 Wp
Vm = 16.7 Vdc
Im = 6.6 A
Voc = 20.7 A
Isc = 7.5 A
Solar charge controller rating = (4 strings x 7.5 A) x 1.3 = 39 A
So the solar charge controller should be rated 40 A at 12 V or greater.