Hardware design of Single axis solar tracker and MPPT charge controller using PIC18F4520

Solar energy is abundantly available in Indian subcontinent. To extract maximum power from solar panels there are effective methods and technologies that can be applied. For obtaining the maximum power, the solar panel can be rotated towards the sun rays during the day time, and another method is to apply Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques in DC-DC converter arrangement. This paper focuses on both of the methods to achieve MPPT. The hardware implementation, methodology, working principle and construction of the standalone single axis solar tracker using operational amplifier is discussed in detail. The hardware prototype of a MPPT charge controller based upon microcontroller PIC18F4520 to increase the efficient battery charging and discharging is also proposed in this paper. The application of the proposed method for solar tracker and for charge controller found to be effective in solar energy conversion. The system can be used for solar panel array in a solar field.