Development of low cost, shade tolerant Maximum Power Point Tracking system: Optimizing return on investment

The paper is about design and implementation of a low cost, shade tolerant Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) which aims to optimize the return on investment. In India Solar power is mostly ill utilized due to which it is rendered insufficient and uneconomical for off grid areas. The solar panels also face problems of partial shading due to which, the large MPPTs prove futile. In the present paper these problems are dealt with by providing an economical solution that caters to the above problems and is capable of delivering maximum power from solar panels. The experimental results obtained, demonstrate its worthiness in tackling above challenges. The prototype device is user friendly, compact, handy and importantly low cost, thus beating the peers in the market.