Use of mobile phones as microcontrollers for control applications such as maximum power point tracking (MPPT)

In this paper we propose the use of conventional mobile phones for a control application, which is usually carried out by microcontrollers. Different extension opportunities of mobile phones, which offer the opportunity to perform control capabilities in an easy way, are discussed. Hence, the microcontroller structure can be left out, as is normally needed. Mobile phones can manage then different power sources by themselves to quickly gain recharge power, which is important due to increased power consumption of these devices. The research is carried out on an experimental phone with a Symbian operating system (OS), and as an example for a control application, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for photovoltaic (PV) cells is presented. The performance is compared with that of conventional available solar chargers.