Photovoltaic Technology

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1.5.1 Design a SCC circuit by using power electronic switching device with extremely low Rds (on), VDSS, and ID of Power MOSFET characteristics.

1.5.2 Simulate each stage of the circuit to get the input and the output of the circuit using National Instrument Multisim Power Pro edition version 10

1.5.3 Construction of the hardware for the system whereby the voltage comparator circuit as float voltage comparator, pulse generator as a clock frequency supplier to the D-flip flop and high power MOSFET switching as device to protect the battery from overcharging condition.

1.5.4 Charge up the battery from low voltage level which is 11.71 volts to full charge voltage level which is 13.80 volts.

- Outline of Report

This report consists of five chapters and it organized as follows:

Chapter I is a review of existing solar power technology and the challenges for SCC design. In order to improve the performance of SCC design, the switching rate and the charge flow into the battery as energy storage are emphasized. The voltage comparator is used to predetermine the float voltage of the battery compare with the reference input to the comparator. The problems faced in designing the SCC circuit are discussed in this chapter to ensure improvement from previous solar SCC circuit will taking part as top priority in designing the hardware. The expected result is discussed to ensure the battery is proper full charged and not causes of overcharging. The scope of project including software simulation, hardware implementation and circuit design are discussed. The organization of report is also presented towards the end of this chapter.

Chapter II presents relevant literature reviews for the project. The basic principle of SCC circuit is briefly introduced and applicable equations are discussed. Other SCC circuits, namely 10 Amp Solar Power Centre and Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) are also introduced in this chapter. Lastly, limitation of current technology used in SCC application which is temperature dependent limitation is discussed.

Chapter III is on the development of this project. This chapter systematically introduces the voltage comparator design as a control method to control charging current that flow into the battery. This chapter also discussed on the comparison of power switching devices to ensure the best switching devices is selected.

Chapter IV presents the results of this project. The designs discussed in the previous chapter have been implemented in hardware and simulated by software. Besides that, a comparison of the results from this project with published work is also discussed.

Chapter V contains a summary and also proposes some ideas for future work.