Solar Peak Power Tracker.

i

SOLAR PEAK POWER TRACKER

MOHD FAHMI BIN IDRUS

This report is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of
Bachelor of Electronic Engineering (Telecommunication Electronics) With Honours

Faculty of Electronic and Computer Engineering
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka

30 April 2009

iii

“I hereby declare that this report is result of my own effort except for works that have
been cited clearly in the references”

Signature


: …………………………….

Name

: MOHD FAHMI BIN IDRUS

Date

:

April 2009

iv

“I hereby declare that I have read this report and in my opinion this report is sufficient in
term of the scope and quality for the purpose of award of the Degree in Bachelor of
Electronic Engineering (Telecommunication Electronics) With Honours”

Signature


: …………………………

Supervisor‟s name

: TAN KIM SEE

Date

:

April 2009

v

Specially…….
To my beloved parents
To my kind brothers and sister
And to all my friends
For their


Love, Encouragements, and Best Wishes

vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to give Thanks to ALLAH SWT, for helping me
through all the obstacles that I encountered during the work of this project.
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Mr. Tan Kim See,
for his encouragement, guidance and critics during the course of studies.
I would like to thank to my beloved family for their encouragement and never
ending support. Not forgetting to all my friends especially Ahmad Syafuan, Mohamad
Nasrul and others for their moral support helping me during the entire PSM session.
Hopefully ALLAH SWT will render their supports.
Last but not least, my gratitude also goes to all individual who give me a helping
hand in order to achieve this accomplishment and co-operation throughout the critical
period of completing this project. Thanks you all.

vii


ABSTRACT

This project is to study and come up with an alternative source of energy as the
concern on environment pollution and disruption caused by power generations from
fossil fuel is getting more critical as time goes by. This project focusses on the solar
energy source. The system will be divided into two sections which is tracking section
and energy conversion section. For the tracking section, the system consists of a solar
panel and tracking control mechanism. Meanwhile, the energy conversion system
consists of the charge controller and the storage battery. In the tracking section, the
controlling circuit uses the BiMOS II Unipolar Stepper-Motor Translator chipset which
is programmed to operate the stepper motor in order to track the maximum of solar
irradiance. For energy conversion section, the task for this system is to control the
amount of extracted energy from solar panel to prevent the battery from overcharging.
The output of this solar energy can be used in either DC application or AC application.
However, for the energy conversion section, it will not come out with the hardware but
the explanation about the system will be stated on certain chapter.

viii

ABSTRAK


Keseluruhan projek ini adalah berkaitan dengan penggunaan sumber tenaga solar
. Tenaga solar adalah salah satu daripada sumber tenaga alternatif apabila kita perihatin
tentang keadaan pencemaran dan kerosakan yang berlaku kepada alam sekitar. Sistem
didalam projek ini terbahagi kepada dua iaitu bahagian pencarian tenaga solar dan
bahagian pengubah tenaga solar kepada tenaga elektrik. Untuk bahagian pencarian
tenaga solar, ia mengandungi panel solar dan litar kawalan panel. Manakala untuk
bahagian pengubah tenaga solar, sistem yang terkandung adalah litar kawalan pengecas
dan bateri simpanan. Sistem litar kawalan panel solar akan menggunakan litar bersepadu
UCN5804B BiMOS II untuk mengawal motor yang terdapat pada panel solar supaya ia
berfungsi secara automatik. Projek ini bertujuan untuk menyerap tenaga solar yang
maksimum untuk tujuan digunakan didalam aplikasi arus terus dan arus ulang alik.
Untuk bahagian pengubah tenaga, ia tidak akan disertakan dengan litar bersepadu. Akan
tetapi, penerangan yang lebih jelas akan disertakan didalam tesis ini.

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER


TITLE

PAGE

PROJECT TITLE
REPORT STATUS FORM
STUDENT DECLARATION
SUPERVISOR DECLARATION
ABSTRACT
ABSTRAK
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF SHORT FORM
LIST OF APPENDIX

I

INTRODUCTION


1

1.1

Background

2

1.2

Project Objectives

4

1.3

Problems Statement

5


x

II

1.4

Scope of Work

6

1.5

Methodology

7

LITERATURE REVIEW

8


2.1

Introduction

9

2.1.1

10

2.2

2.3

Types of Photovoltaic Arrays

Solar Power Fundamental

12


2.2.1

Theory of Thermal Energy

12

2.2.2

Why these inefficiency problems occur?

13

2.2.3

The effecting factors

15

2.2.4


Voltage-Current (V-I) characteristic

16

Tracking Section

18

2.3.1

Introduction to Stepper Motor

18

2.3.2

Stepper Motor Advantages and Disadvantages

19

2.3.2.1 Advantages

19

2.3.2.2 Disadvantages

19

Types of Stepper Motor

20

2.3.3.1 Variable-Reluctance (VR)

20

2.3.3.2 Permanent Magnet (PM)

21

2.3.3.3 Hybrid (HB)

22

2.3.4

Principle of Operation

23

2.3.5

Control Circuit

24

2.3.5.1 Circuit Overview

24

2.3.3

xi
2.4

Charge Controllers

25

2.4.1

Types of Charge Controllers

25

2.4.1.1 Basic Charge Controllers

26

2.4.1.2 Pulse Width Modulated Charge Controllers 26
2.4.1.3 MPPT Charge Controllers
2.5

Storage Batteries

28

2.5.1

Types of Batteries

28

2.5.1.1 Alkaline Batteries

28

2.5.1.2 Lead-acid Batteries

29

Batteries Condition

30

2.5.2
2.6

Circuit Diagram

31

2.6.1

Voltage Regulator

31

2.6.1.1 Circuit analysis

31

Battery Charger Circuit

33

2.6.2.1 Circuit analysis

33

2.6.2

2.7

27

Related Component

35

2.7.1

BiMOS II Unipolar Stepper-Motor Translator

35

2.7.2

LM317T Voltage Regulator

36

2.7.3

LM555 Timer

37

xii
III

IV

V

PROJECT METHODOLOGY

38

3.1

Phase of Methodology

39

3.2

Project‟s Flow Chart

40

3.3

Project‟s flows

41

RESULTS

42

4.1

Circuit Diagram

43

4.2

Circuit Layout

43

4.3

Circuit Description

44

4.4

Circuit Overview

45

4.5

Data Analysis

46

CONCLUSION

49

5.1

Conclusion

49

5.2

Recommendations

50

REFERENCES

51

APPENDIX

52

xiii

LIST OF TABLES

NO

TITLE

PAGES

4.1

Extracted output voltage by hours (without tracking section)

46

4.2

Extracted output voltage by hours (with tracking section)

47

xiv

LIST OF FIGURES

NO

TITLE

1.1

Application of Solar Energy

3

1.2

Project Overviews

4

2.1

Solar cell, module and arrays

9

2.2

Illustration of “Doping Process”

12

2.3

Anti-reflective coating in Solar Cell

13

2.4

Multiple Layers in Solar Cells

14

2.5

Characteristic of Solar Panel

16

2.6

Solar Irradiance

17

2.7

Stepper Motor

18

2.8

Variable Reluctance core

20

2.9

Permanent Magnet core

21

2.10

Hybrid core

22

2.11

Magnetic flux path through a two-pole stepper motor with a lag
between the rotor and stator

PAGES

23

xv
2.12

Control Circuit Block Diagram

24

2.13

Alkaline Battery

28

2.14

Lead-acid Battery

29

2.15

Voltage Regulator Circuit Diagram

31

2.16

Battery Charger Circuit Diagram

33

2.17

UCN5804B Pinout

35

2.18

UCN5804B Structure

36

2.19

UCN5804B Internal Block Diagram

36

2.20

LM555 Pinout

37

2.21

LM555 Internal Block Diagram

37

3.1

Components assembly process

41

3.2

Soldering process

41

3.3

Troubleshooting process

42

4.1

Controlling Circuit

46

4.2

Tracking Component

46

4.3

Overall System

47

4.4

Output Voltage versus Time 1

49

4.5

Output Voltage versus Time 2

50

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LIST OF SHORT FORM

PV

-

Photovoltaic

DC

-

Direct Current

AC

-

Alternate Current

PPT

-

Peak Power Tracker

VR

-

Variable-Reluctance

PM

-

Permanent Magnet

HB

-

Hybrid

PWM -

Pulse Width Modulation

PIC

Peripheral Interface Controller

-

RAM -

Random Access Memory

LVD -

Low Voltage Disconnect

xvii

LIST OF APPENDIX

NO

TITLE

A

A New Peak Power Tracker for Cost-Effective Photovoltaic

PAGES
55

Power System
B

Combined Low-Cost, High-Efficient Inverter, Peak Power Tracker
and Regulator For PV Applications

61

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This consists of the introduction about the project, the background, project
objective, problems statement and the scope of work covered.

2

1.1

Background
In recent years, attention toward natural energy resources such as solar and wind

power has increased as concern about energy security as well as the environment
pollution and disruption is very much emphasized. Solar energy is inexhaustible, clean,
and easy to use, directing a lot of efforts on solar power generation as the most practical
and reliable source. But solar arrays are still very expensive and and take in a lot of
space. In the interest of efficiency, the energy from a solar array should be maximized
under all conditions.
In most photovoltaic applications, the solar panels are connected directly to the
battery for charging, but these results in certain inefficiencies. Solar panels used in 12volt applications, have very distinct power curves (volts x amps = watts). A graph of
voltage vs. current will range from maximum current at zero volts (no power) to
maximum volts at zero current (also no power). Somewhere in the middle there will be
the Maximum or Peak Power Point (MPP) where the maximum output wattage can be
extracted from the solar panel. Solar arrays are the most expensive components in
photovoltaic power systems. Thus solar array should be operated at the maximum power
point in order to reduce overall cost of the system
This project is basically to study the various solutions to solve the inefficiencies
that happens in most photovoltaic applications. The inefficiencies in this system arise
when the solar panel is connected directly to the battery. A new peak power tracker
(PPT) will be created without to change the load demand, insulation and temperature of
the sun. The benefits of the PPT are cost effectiveness, simplicity and flexibility.

3

Figure 1.1: Application of solar energy

4
1.2

Project Objectives
There are three main objectives that have set out to achieve at the end of this
project. They are:

a) To study the inefficiency problems encountered in most photovoltaic systems.
b) To design a solar peak power tracker (PPT) which can extract the maximum
power output from the solar arrays in order to solve the efficiency problems in
the circuit.
c) To study the charge controller circuit and its application

Figure 1.2: Project overviews

5
1.3

Problem Statement
In applications where photovoltaic arrays are used to provide energy, maximum

power trackers are used to correct for the variations in the current-voltage characteristics
of the solar cells. As shown in the typical silicon cell I-V curve, as the output potential
of the string rises, the string will produce significantly less current. The current-voltage
curve will move and deform depending upon temperature, illumination, and consistency
of cell quality in the string. For the array to be able to put out the maximum possible
amount of power, either the operating voltage or current needs to be carefully controlled.
This is called maximum power point which is located at the same voltage the
main system is operating at, and even if the two were equal initially, the power point
would quickly move as lighting conditions and temperature change. Hence, a device is
needed that finds the maximum power point and converts that voltage to a voltage equal
to the system voltage.
The system should be operating at high performance since the cost of solar arrays
is quite expensive. Instead, the problems occur when this system cannot exact the
maximum power from solar energy because of the lower efficiency operation from
circuit. The power output from the solar arrays depends on the load demand, insulation
and temperature of the sun. The 12-volt battery fixes the solar panel output voltage to its
own output voltage, usually 11.9V and 14.4V because of some power is lost, resulting
lower efficiencies.

6
1.4

Scope of Works

There are several areas that have to be identified or considered that need to be work out.
There are:
a) The tracking control system
The solar panel will be designed with tracking control system. A stepper motor is
the main part of this section and it will be driven by a programmed control circuit
using UCN5804B BiMOS chip.

b) Types of charge controllers
There are a few types of charge controllers for solar energy conversions. Because
of that, the controller should be the right one and it is suitable for the solar panel.

c) Application
In application of solar energy, the voltage output must be dividing into 2 types of
voltage which are DC and AC.

7
1.5

Methodology

There are 4 phases involved in order to achieve the objective of this project. There are:
a) Project Planning
b) Literature Review
c) Hardware Construction
d) Finishing

The detail explanations of these phases are contained in Chapter 3.