Battery Management System for Solar Energy Applications

Generally in photovoltaic applications the storage battery has the highest life time cost in the system; it has a profound affect on the reliability and performance of the system. Currently the most commonly used storage technology for photovoltaic applications is the lead acid battery. The advantages of the lead acid battery are its low cost and great availability. The problem is that photovoltaic panels are not an ideal source for charging batteries. With the lead acid battery the charging regime may have a significant impact on its service life. The battery management system described in this paper aims to optimize the use of the battery, to prolong the life of the battery, making the overall system more reliable and cost effective. Maximum power point tracking will also be incorporated into the battery management system, to move the solar array operating voltage close to the maximum power point under varying atmospheric conditions, in order to draw the maximum power from the array. This paper will describe different battery technologies that are currently used with photovoltaic systems along with some of the charging techniques that are available