MPPT or maximum power point tracking charge controllers are a relatively new product in the solar electricity game. They have a few distinct advantages over the older styles of charge controllers.
In any applications which PV module is energy source, MPPT solar controller is used to correct for detecting the variations in the current-voltage characteristics of solar cell and shown by I-V curve.
MPPT solar controller is necessary for any solar power systems need to extract maximum power from PV module; it forces PV module to operate at voltage close to maximum power point to draw maximum available power.
MPPT solar controller allows users to use PV module with a higher voltage output than operating voltage of battery system.
For example, if PV module has to be placed far away from charge controller and battery, its wire size must be very large to reduce voltage drop. With a MPPT solar controller, users can wire PV module for 24 or 48 V (depending on charge controller and PV modules) and bring power into 12 or 24 V battery system. This means it reduces the wire size needed while retaining full output of PV module.
MPPT solar controller reduces complexity of system while output of system is high efficiency. Additionally, it can be applied to use with more energy sources. Since PV output power is used to control DC-DC converter directly. MPPT solar controller can be applied to other renewable energy sources such as small water turbines, wind-power turbines, etc.
Maximum Power Point Tracking charge controllers can:
1. Make your solar array produce up to 30 percent more:
This is the original purpose to create the MPPT charge controller. All solar modules have a maximum power point voltage or SWEET SPOT. The SWEET SPOT is the voltage at which a solar module will make the most energy. An MPPT controller will connect to the solar module at the best voltage and then reduce the voltage to charge the battery. By connecting to the module at the mppt voltage, the output will be better by up to 30 percent.
2. Make it possible to charge a lower voltage bank of batteries with a higher voltage solar module :
Before MPPT, customers would have to choose a charge controller and solar modules according to the voltage of the battery. If you had a 48 volt battery bank, you had to use a 48 volt solar module and a 48 volt charge controller. If you decided to decrease the battery bank voltage, you had to swap your solar module and your charge controller. Not anymore. MPPT charge controllers can take a higher voltage from the solar module and reduce it to charge the battery. As long as the solar module produces more voltage than the battery bank, the battery will be charged properly. If you decide to change the battery voltage later, the charge controller can be adjusted to the new voltage.
MPPT's are most effective under these conditions:
Winter, and/or cloudy or hazy days – when the extra power is needed the most.
Cold weather – solar panels work better at cold temperatures, but without a MPPT you are losing most of that. Cold weather is most likely in winter – the time when sun hours are low and you need the power to recharge batteries the most.
Low battery charge – the lower the state of charge in your battery, the more current a MPPT puts into them – another time when the extra power is needed the most. You can have both of these conditions at the same time.
Long wire runs – If you are charging a 12 volt battery, and your panels are 100 feet away, the voltage drop and power loss can be considerable unless you use very large wire. That can be very expensive. But if you have four 12 volt panels wired in series for 48 volts, the power loss is much less, and the controller will convert that high voltage to 12 volts at the battery. That also means that if you have a high voltage panel setup feeding the controller, you can use much smaller wire.
Wellsee New Energy Industry Co.,ltd is a main developer and manufacturer of MPPT charge controllers, in addition, inverters, wind turbines are also available from Wellsee. Michael(Email: marketing@e-bluelight.com) can offer you a good green power solution.
