International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

Index Copernicus Value (2013): 6.14 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391

Design and Implementation of PWM Charge

Controller and Solar Tracking System
Bishwajit Swarnakar1, Anupama Datta2
1, 2
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Leading University, VIP Road, Sylhet 3100, Bangladesh

Abstract: The main object of this paper is to report and present the design and implementation of PWM based solar tracking system.
Solar tracking allows more energy to be produced because the solar array is able to remain aligned to the sun. Our final goal is to
develop an automatic tracking system which will keep the solar panels aligned with the sun in order to maximize e fficiency. In this
project we are trying to increase the solar power production and safety of solar power system. This project has two deferent parts those
are solar tracker and PWM charge controller. We have tried to make a tracker which can track more sun intensity for the solar panel.
For using the solar tracker system we can produce more energy than the analog solar system. In this project we have also tried to
generate more efficiency than the other solar system by the PWM charge controller. Without charging the battery from the solar panel,
the PWM charge controller made by us gives various kinds of protection like as night prevent current protection, load control, over
charge control, show battery charge level and short circuit protection.

Keywords: Solar Energy, Tracker, PWM, Charge Controller

1. Introduction or sometimes does not generate any power in a particular

time of the day. To get rid of this problem we have made the
This solar energy is considered a great source for tackling solar tracking system. The solar panel changes its position
this crisis. But the rural people are not economically solvent with the movement of the sun. Because of the facility of
enough to use large solar panels to get more electricity for changing position, it can generate more power than the
running their everyday needs [1]. The solar energy is directly general solar system.
converted into electrical energy by solar photovoltaic
modules. The main factors that affect the efficiency of the 2. Working Process
collection process are solar cell efficiency, intensity of source
radiation and storage techniques. The efficiency of a solar The complete procedure can be divided into two major parts:
cell is limited by materials used in solar cell manufacturing. Solar Tracker and PWM Charge Controller.
It is particularly difficult to make considerable improvements
in the performance of the cell, and hence restricts the 2.1 Flowcharts of Solar Tracking System
efficiency of the overall collection process. Therefore, the
increase of the intensity of radiation received from the sun is In the initial test, the sensor circuit and motor was used to
the most attainable method of improving the performance of track the sun for a full day. The sensor was mounted on a
solar power. Solar panels are installed at a tilt angle of 23◦ in panel and the motor would rotate the panel to face the sun.
Bangladesh, though this alignment depends upon the The panel would rotate a few degrees at varying time
installations geographic location. These panels are fixed intervals. The setup rotated about 235◦ for the full day. It was
facing south to get adequate sunlight all the year round. not able to track the sun the next day due to the sensors
During winter season the panel will generate minimum power facing the opposite direction of the sunrise. When sensors
only from diffused sunlight in the morning and late afternoon detect the sun then it sends a value into the microcontroller.
since the sunlight falls transversely at that time. So tilt angle When microcontroller gets those values from sensor then
of the solar panel should be around 45◦ to achieve maximum microcontroller use a comparator function and take a
output power during day time in winter. In this paper we have decision which sensor has more sun intensity. Thus the panel
discussed the techniques to increase the light gathering starts move on this position.
ability of a solar by using solar tracking system and PWM
charge controller. We have also try to improve the efficiency
of the solar system by using PWM. In Bangladesh which
charge controllers are found those are made by analog system
with 7 segment display. As a result made of charge controller
by using analog system, the efficiency of controller is less
than the other controller. We have generated PWM by using
microcontroller. Because of the full system is controlled by
microcontroller, the efficiency of controller is more than the
analog system. The solar power system which are seen in

Bangladesh at present, are placed in a fixed angle [13]. As a

result the solar power system sometimes generate less power Figure 1: Flowcharts of solar tracker

Volume 5 Issue 5, May 2016

www.ijsr.net
Paper ID: NOV163566 1214
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2013): 6.14 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
2.2 Flowcharts of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) regulation, the current from the solar array tapers according
Charge Controller to the battery’s condition and recharging needs. The heart of
the charge controller is Arduino nano board. The arduino
When solar cell gets proper photon energy then it makes MCU senses the solar panel and battery voltages. According
electrical power. It could be approximately 20V. So, we need to these voltages it decides how to charge the battery and
to do control the high current & voltage. For this reason we control the load. The amount of charging current is
use PWM charge controller system. This controller works determined by difference between battery voltage and charge
like: When solar cell produces voltage then this voltage set point voltages. The controller uses two stages charging
detect by a voltage indicator. After this measurement the algorithm. According to the charging algorithm it gives a
voltage control by a voltage controller and using this voltage fixed frequency PWM signal to the solar panel side p-
we can charge our panels battery. MOSFET. The frequency of PWM signal is 490.20 Hz
(default frequency for pin-3). The duty cycle 0−100% is
adjusted by the error signal [14]. The controller gives HIGH
or LOW command to the load side p-MOSFET according to
the dusk/dawn and battery voltage.

The charge controller is designed by taking care of the

following points:
1) Prevent Battery Overcharge: To limit the energy supplied
to the battery by the solar panel when the battery becomes
fully charged. This is implemented in charge cycle ( ) of
my code.
2) Prevent Battery over discharge: To disconnect the battery
from electrical loads when the battery reaches low state of
Figure 2: Flowcharts of pulse width modulation (PWM) charge. This is implemented in load control () of my code.
charge controller 3) Provide Load Control Functions: To automatically connect
and disconnect an electrical load at a specified time. The
3. Design & Implementation load will ON when sunset and OFF when sunrise. This is
implemented in load control () of my code.
The overall goal of this project was to design and 4) Monitoring Power and Energy : To monitor the load power
implementation of solar Tracker with PWM charge and energy and display it.
controller. The tracker uses the sun sensor to follow the sun 5) Protect from abnormal Condition: To protect the circuit
across the sky throughout the day. While building the tracker, from different abnormal situation like lightening, over
we did some additional physical analysis of the design. voltage, over current and short circuit etc.
6) Indicating and Displaying: To indicate and display the
3.1 Design of the Solar Tracker various parameters.
7) Serial Communication: To print various parameters in
A solar tracker is a device for orienting a solar photovoltaic serial monitor.
panel, day lighting reflector or concentrating solar reflector or
lens toward the sun [16]. Solar (or photovoltaic) cells convert
the suns energy into electricity. Sunlight is composed of
miniscule particles called photons, which radiate from the
sun. As these hit the silicon atoms of the solar cell, they
transfer their energy to lose electrons, knocking them clean
off the atoms. When sunlight focus on LDR1 then the servo
motor holds its position at 85◦ . This angle for the time 6.00
am to 11.00 am. Secondly, when sunlight focus on LDR2
then the servo motor holds its position at 65◦.This angle for
Figure 3: Circuit diagram of the PWM charge controller
the time 11.00 am to 1.00 pm. Thirdly, when sunlight focus
on LDR3 then the servo motor holds its position at 50◦ . This
angle for the time 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm. And at last when
sunlight focus on LDR4 then the servo motor holds its
position at 35◦. This angle for the time 3.00 pm to night. At
night the servomotor holds its position at 85◦[21].

3.2 Design of PWM Based Solar Charge Controller

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is the most effective means

to achieve constant voltage battery charging by switching the
solar system controllers power devices [16]. When in PWM

Volume 5 Issue 5, May 2016

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Paper ID: NOV163566 1215
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2013): 6.14 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
3.3 Charging Algorithm 5. Overall Efficiency of the System
Without PWM Charge Controller and Tracking System the
change of storage charges.

Time Change of Charge Difference

9am to 10am 58% to 62% 4%
11am to 12pm 65% to 70% 5%
1pm to 2pm 73% to 79% 6%
3pm to 4pm 85% to 90% 5%
Average change of charge for an hour is 5%

With the PWM Charge Controller and Tracking System the

change of storage charges.

Time Change of Charge Difference

9am to 10am 52% to 61% 9%
11am to 12pm 63% to 72% 9%
Figure 4: Charging Algorithm of the pwm charge controller. 1pm to 2pm 75% to 84% 9%
3pm to 4pm 91% to 100% 9%
4. Measurement & Calculation Average change of charge for an hour is 9%

After designing of the solar tracker, we have measured and So that, PWM Charge Controller with Tracking System is
calculated the rating of voltage, current and power. 4% more efficient than Without PWM Charge Controller and
Tracking System.
4.1 Voltage Measurement
6. Future Development
Arduinos analog inputs can be used to measure DC voltage
between 0 and 5V (when using the standard 5V analog This project can be improved by MPPT system. Maximum
reference voltage) and this range can be increased by using Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is a technique that grid
two resistors to create a voltage divider. The voltage divider connected inverters, solar battery chargers and similar
decreases the voltage being measured to within the range of devices use to get the maximum possible power from one or
the Arduino analog inputs. We can use this to measure the more photovoltaic devices, typically solar panel though
solar panel and battery voltages. optical power transmission systems can benefit from similar
technology. We can also plan to improve the system where
For a voltage divider circuit whole tracking device will move on straight along x-axis with
Vout = R2/(R1+R2) × Vin Vin = (R1+R2)/R2 × Vout movement of the sun. It will help to get more sunlight
The analogRead() function reads the voltage and converts it without any reflection.
to a number between 0 and 1023.
7. Conclusion
Calibration:
Were going to read output value with one of the analog Renewable energy solutions are becoming increasingly
inputs of Arduino and its analog Read () function. That popular. Photovoltaic or solar systems are one good example
function outputs a value between 0 (0V in input) and 1023 of this [19]. In order to maximize power output from the
(5V in input) that is 0,0049V for each increment (As 5/1024 solar panels, one needs to keep the panels aligned with the
= 0.0049V). sun. This is a far more cost effective solution than purchasing
Vin = Vout*(R1+R2)/R2 ; R1=100k and R2=20k additional solar panels when dealing with large panel arrays.
Vin= ADC count*0.0049*(120/20) Volt // Highlighted part is This project develops solar tracking system with PWM which
Scale factor will keep the solar panels aligned with the sun in order to
maximize efficiency.PWM charge controller is best for us
4.2 Current Measurement which is treated as the first significant advance in solar
battery charging. It increases efficiency of our solar system.
For current measurement I used a Hall Effect current sensor We can see the world energy resources depletion to be a
ACS 712 (5A). The ACS712 sensor read the current value major problem & global warming, which is a major concern.
and converts it into a relevant voltage value, The value that Switching to solar power, which is clean and green and
links the two measurements is sensitivity. enhancing its efficiency by using sun trackers is a great
option in the near future. To conclude, this project turned out
As per data sheet for a ACS 712 (5A) model : 1. Sensitivity well and met the original requirements and functionality.
is 185mV/A. 2. The sensor can measure positive and Although there were many problems and more work on the
negative currents (range-5A-5A). 3. Power supply is 5V. 4. mechanical side than originally expected, overall it was an
Middle sensing voltage is 2.5V when no current. enjoyable experience completing this project.

Volume 5 Issue 5, May 2016

www.ijsr.net
Paper ID: NOV163566 1216
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2013): 6.14 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
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