Design of a solar powered battery charger

A solar powered battery charger is presented, where a photovoltaic (PV) panel is used to convert solar power into electricity and a DC/DC converter is used to control the output power of the PV panel and the charging current for the battery. In the software, an optimal control algorithm is applied to obtain the maximum available power from the sunshine. The simulation and experimental results are presented and compared. The applications of this technique can be light electrical vehicles such as golf carts, scooters, airport utility vehicles, as well as other renewable power stations where batteries are used for energy storage.