The controller helps to protect the batteries from all kinds of issues, including overcharging, current leaking back to the solar panel during the night, the prevention of Undervoltage and it helps to monitor the status of the batteries. Power generation solar power plants, wind power plants, tidal power plants, fuel cells, etc., are intermittent in nature, which means these power sources are not producing electricity constantly and at any moment of the day. For that reason they require a battery for storage of electricity. The battery does not perform any modification or transformation of the electrical current it simply stores it. Whenever electricity is not available, the stored charge inside the battery is used to provide power to the loads. Batteries are almost always installed with a charge controller. As the name implies, a charge controller is an electronic module, which controls the amount of charge entering and exiting the battery. Charge controllers are installed for optimum and most efficient performance of the battery, and to protect the battery from over-and undercharging. There’s an interesting relationship between the charging / discharging of batteries and its voltage. This relationship is graphically shown in below Figure 1. As the battery begins to discharge, it experiences a slight reduction in its output voltage. This relationship is used in the working of the charge controller. Charge controllers have built-in voltage sensing instruments ( potentiometers), which sense the output voltage. Depending upon the output voltage, the charge controller determines the charge percentage of the battery, using a similar curve below. Figure 1: Typical discharge curve (voltage versus % charge) for a 24 volt lead acid battery Then depending upon the programmed parameters, the charge controller determines its course of action. For example: Discharge curve (voltage versus % charge) 24v lead acid battery The charge controller can be programmed to disconnect the battery whenever it reaches 80% discharge. When the potentiometer senses an output voltage of around 22.8V (see curve above), it will open the breaker of the battery to disconnect it from the system, thereby protecting the battery. Major functions performed by solar charge controllers A large number of parameters can be programmed, each with a different action to be taken, depending on the user’s requirements. While the primary function of any charge controller is to control the amount of charge entering and exiting the battery, it is not its only function.
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