3/6/2016

Asimplesolarpanelregulator

Asimplesolarpanelregulator
Solarpanelregulators
comeinmany
flavors.Theplainest
flavoristhesimple
onofftypeshunt
regulator.Ithasthe
advantageof
simplicity,extremely
smallpower
dissipation,lowcost,
highreliability,butin
exchangeforthese
advantagesonehasto
acceptthatthe
voltageonthebattery
isalwaysgoing
slightlyupanddown,
thatthebatteryis
switchedbetweenfull
chargingcurrentand
nochargingcurrent,
andthat
disconnectionofthebatterywillresultinhighvoltageoutputpulsesfromtheregulator.Dependingon
theapplication,onehastochoosethemostappropriatetypeofregulator.InmostsolarinstallationsI
haveusedmylinearsolarregulatordesign,whichhastheadvantagesofsmoothvoltageregulation
andundervoltageloaddumping,atthecostofhighercost,largersizeandhighpowerdissipation.But
whenIwasaskedtobuildasolarregulatorforaYacht,whichhasjustone3.1Amperepanelbuta
300Ahbatterybank,somethingsmallandsimplewasmoreappropriatethanalinearregulator.SoI
designedandbuiltthisone,whichyoumightfindusefulforsimilarapplications:Generallythose
wherearathersmallsolargeneratingcapacityiscombinedwitharelativelylargebattery,orthose
wherelowcost,simpleconstructionandhighreliabilityaremoreimportantthanthesmoothnessof
linearregulation.
Theregulatorwasbuiltonaperfboardandmountedinasealedplasticprojectbox,whichinturngot
analuminummountingplate.Theconnectionterminalsarebrass.Itwassolidlybuilttowithstandthe
harshmaritimeenvironmentandafairamountofabuse.

Thecircuit
Whenthepanelisn'tgenerating,theentirecircuitisoffandthereisabsolutelynocurrentdrainfrom
thebattery.Whenthesungetsupandpanelstartsproducingatleast10Volt,theLEDlightsandthe
twosmalltransistorsswitchon.Thispowerstheregulatorcircuit.Aslongasthebatteryvoltagestays
below14V,theoperationalamplifier(whichisaverylowpowerdevice)willkeeptheMOSFEToff,
sonothingspecialwillhappenandthepanelcurrentwillgothroughtheSchottkydiodetothebattery.
Whenthebatteryreachesthetriggervoltage,whichisnominally14.0V,U1switchesonthe
http://ludens.cl/Electron/solar2/solar2.html

1/3

3/6/2016

Asimplesolarpanelregulator

MOSFET.Thisshortsoutthesolarpanel(aconditionthatisperfectlysafe),thebatterynolongergets
chargingcurrent,theLEDgoesoff,thetwosmalltransistorsgooff,andC2powerstheregulator
circuitwhileslowlydischarging.Afterroughly3seconds,C2hasdischargedenoughtoovercomethe
hysteresisofU1,whichswitchestheMOSFEToffagain.Nowthecircuitwillagainchargethe
battery,untilitagainreachesthetriggervoltage.Inthisway,theregulatorworksincycles,witheach
OFFperiodbeing3seconds,andeachONperiodlastingforaslongasnecessaryforthebatteryto
reach14.0V.Thepulselengthwillvaryaccordingtothecurrentdemandofthebatteryandanyload
connectedtoit.
TheminimalONtimeisgivenbythetimeC2takestochargeupwiththecurrentlimitedbyQ3to
roughly40mA.Thistimeisquiteshort,sothisregulatorcanworkdowntoveryshortpulses.

Construction
Buildingthiscircuitisverysimple.Allcomponentsarewidelyavailable,andmostcanbeeasily
replacedbyothertypesifnecessary.IwouldnotadvicetoreplacetheTLC271northeLM3852.5by
differentones,unlessyouknowverywellwhatyouaredoing.Bothofthemarelowpowerdevices,
andtheirpowerconsumptiondirectlydefinestheOFFtimeoftheregulator.Ifyouusereplacements
thathaveadifferentpowerconsumption,youwillneedtochangethevalueofC2,adjustthebiasing
ofQ3,andmaybeeventhenyoumightrunintounexpectedtrouble.
TheMOSFETcaneasilybereplacedbyanytypeyoulike,aslongasitsRDSONislowenoughsothat
itsdissipationwillremainacceptableatthemaximumcurrentdeliveredbyyourpanel.ForD2,
basicallyanydiodeisacceptableaslongasitcansafelyhandlethetotalcurrentproducedbyyour
panel.ASchottkydiodeliketheoneshownisanadvantagebecauseitwillproduceonlyhalfasmuch
voltagedropasastandardsilicondiode,andthusgenerateonlyhalfasmuchheat.Butastandard
diodeisperfectlysuitableifproperlysizedandmounted.Withthecomponentsshown,theregulator
comfortablyhandlesa4Amperepanel.Forlargerpanels,onlytheMOSFETanddiodeneedtobe
replacedbylargerones.Therestofthecircuitremainsthesame.Noheatsinkisrequiredforthe
powerlevelshown.TheindicatedMOSFETcanhandleamuchlargerpaneliffittedwithamodest
heatsink.
http://ludens.cl/Electron/solar2/solar2.html

2/3

3/6/2016

Asimplesolarpanelregulator

R8inthiscircuitis92k,whichisanonstandardvalue.Isuggestthatyouusean82kresistorinseries
witha10kone,whichissimplerthantryingtofindaspecialresistor.R8,R10andR6definethe
cutoffvoltage,soit'sniceiftheyarereasonablyaccurate.Iused5%resistors,whichusuallyarealot
betterthantherated5%,butifyouwanttobeonthesafeside,use1%resistorshereorpickthemore
precise5%onesaftermeasuringseveralwithadigitalmeter.Youcouldalsoincludeatrimpotinthis
circuit,sothatyoucanadjustthevoltage,butIwouldnotsuggestthisifyourapplicationcallsfor
highreliabilityinacorrosiveenvironment,likeminedid.Trimpotsjustdofailintheseconditions.

IfyouknowSpanish
ForthoseofmyreaderswhocanunderstandSpanish,Ihaveincludedtheslightlyjokinginstruction
manualwhichIgavetheyacht'scaptaintogetherwiththisregulator.Theyachtisthefamedand
fearedCapricornio.

Backtohomoludenselectronicus.

http://ludens.cl/Electron/solar2/solar2.html

3/3