ABSTRACT

This project presents a 40A maximum power point tracking solar charge controller. The MPPT charge controller tries to keep the voltage and the power stable. The MPPT charge controller will harvest more power from the solar array – it will adjust its input voltage to harvest the maximum power from the solar array and then transform this power to supply the varying voltage requirement of the battery plus load. An MPPT charge controller is an electronic DC to DC converter that optimizes the match between the solar array (PV panels), and the battery bank or utility grid. To put it simply they convert a higher voltage DC output from solar panels down to the lower voltage needed to charge batteries. This project serves as a means of effectively charging the 19200Watt-hour battery bank that is made up of eight 12V/200Ah deep cycle lead acid batteries for the PV system installation, which was carried out to curb the problem of epileptic mains power supply that has crippled major activities in the university and the department in particular over the years.