Charge-Controller Optimization on Lead-Acid Battery in Solar PV Systems: Temperature Effects and Efficiency Improvement

¹ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
³ National Committee for Development of Technologies (CNDT), Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, P.O. Box 1457, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

^* Corresponding author: a.fopah-lele@ubuea.cm

Abstract

Long-term cell performance is very sensitive to the cell operating temperature, and cell storage capacity can degrade quickly, if the temperature is not maintained within a narrow range (25–50 °C) during charging and discharging of (solar) batteries [1]. Efforts are recently being dedicated to developing models that seek to provide insights into that issue. However, not all models consider the operation of the photovoltaic (PV) battery storage system with regard to battery optimization and temperature effects. The present work provides a controllable algorithm to help charge controllers provide exact amount of PV electricity (charge equalization) to batteries with temperature compensation included, and a proposed charging and discharging schedules of the battery storage. The temperature compensated duty cycle for charging is modelled and the pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal is programmed to change with temperature following this duty cycle model. This research work is based on the optimization of solar battery storage where the micro controller-based charge controller enhances battery life by monitoring the temperature and controlling charging voltages and float charging voltages for specific temperatures. A buck converter was simulated in Proteus, and then realized in the laboratory. The duty cycle of the buck converter was adjusted with temperature. Results collected from lab experiments were plotted on MatLab and it shows homogeneity with calculated results. Moreover, battery-charging currents, battery direct current (DC) disconnect and battery switching for charging and discharging were performed for the converter. Future work is to extend this study to large-scale solar photovoltaic systems in order to overcome the operation limits encountered.