Design & implementation of MPPT algorithm for battery charging with photovoltaic panel using FPGA

Solar photovoltaic system as renewable energy source is being significant due to several advantages such as the absence of fuel cost, no carbon footprints, and little maintenance. There are two primary constraints to the use of solar photovoltaic systems: low energy conversion efficiency and high installation cost. As the number of photovoltaic systems increase, so does the demand for high-efficient battery chargers for energy storage. Most systems in the market today use batteries without proper charge controllers. Direct battery charging with solar panels will result in premature battery failure or capacity loss, due to improper charge procedure. And due to the power wastage because of inefficient use of solar energy needs to install more panels for same power requirement. This is the reason of requirement of proper charge controller. In this work, an attempt has been made to develop a charge controller working on maximum power point tracking for the solar panel. This controller controls the output power of the solar panel and the charging current for the battery. It works on an embedded system (FPGA) and aims to use the solar panel efficiently for battery charging. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and validity of the developed controller.