This paper presents the design and implementationof solar powered battery charger for NiMH batteries. The consists of battery unit having 10 NiMH cells having capacity 2100 mAh connected in series forming 12V battery and temperature sensor mounted on it. This charger employs a very simple algorithm based on parameters such as temperature, voltage and charging current. The charger periodically measures battery parameters. The design is implemented with 8 bit RISC microcontroller. The charger performs well at different charging rates. The experimental result shows the performance of the proposed solar based charging system.
Battery charging, NiMH endpoint detection, solar battery charger
