Ultracapacitor/ battery hybrid for solar energy storage

All stand alone photovoltaic systems require an energy buffer to bridge the mismatch between available and required energy. Battery technology, chiefly the lead acid battery, is the most popular form of energy storage utilized. Nevertheless in a photovoltaic application, the storage battery generally has the highest life time cost in the system, it has a profound effect on the systems reliability and global performance. Photovoltaic panels are not an ideal source for charging batteries as the output is unreliable and heavily dependent on weather conditions an optimum charge/discharge cycle cannot be guaranteed. Using an ultracapacitor and battery hybrid system it is aimed to prolong the lifetime of the battery, making the overall system more efficient and reliable. The ultracapacitor/battery hybrid system will be controlled by an energy management system (EMS) implemented in LabView. The EMS will implement maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and the chosen battery charging algorithm.