MPPT solar charge controller.?
What are the components required to build an MPPT charge controller to charge a 12v Battery?
I know i might need some DC-DC conversion but i am not sure which?
I read on the internet that i need to use an inverter(DC/AC) and then use a rectifier (DC output) but i didnt understand why becasue the output of the solar panel is already a DC source so why not use it directly?
An MPPT charger is a non-trivial design. The idea is that you sample the input voltage and current several times a second, and continuously adjust the operating point to get maximum power transfer from the panel. This would mean that you charge a capacitor from the solar panel, then dump charge from that capacitor into your battery. Indeed, it has elements in common with DC-DC conversion. The input could be 60 volts, 10 amps, and the battery charging could be at 14 volts, 40 amps. I believe a microprocessor control circuit and firmware programming would generally be necessary. It would be much cheaper and better to simply buy an MPPT charger.
Also, until you get to the 300-400 watt range of systems, the MPPT will consume more energy than it saves, so on a smaller system, you would generally just connect a non-MPPT charger, or a charger with that feature turned off. With a really small system, 40 watts or less, you can probably get away with just connecting your solar panel to the battery directly.
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