Testing, Performance and Reliability Evaluation of Charge Controllers for Solar Photovoltaic Home Lighting Systemin India

Charge controller is the most important part of a Solar Photovoltaic Home Lighting System (SPVHLS) which controls the charging ofbattery from photovoltaic (PV) module and discharging of battery through load. This paper analyzes testresults of fourteen charge controllers (CC) available in India according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) specification. The different parameters of charge controllers to be tested arebattery high voltage disconnect (HVD), low voltage disconnect(LVD), load reconnect voltage (LRV), short circuit protection etc. It is found that seven charge controllers meet the technical specifications of MNRE. There is also a study of different features and properties of the chargecontrollers. Finally a brief discussion on selection appropriate charge controller for Solar Photovoltaic Home Lighting System (SPVHLS) and further improvement of charge controller is presented.