![International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems (IJPEDS)
Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2022, pp. 2235~2243
ISSN: 2088-8694, DOI: 10.11591/ijpeds.v13.i4.pp2235-2243 2235
Journal homepage: http://ijpeds.iaescore.com
A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the
controller of off-grid solar home system
Mohammad Shariful Islam1
, Siti Zaliha Mohammad Noor2
, Hasmaini Mohamad1
, Nur Ashida Salim1
,
Zuhaila Mat Yasin3
1
Power System Planning and Operations Research Group (PoSPO) School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
2
Solar Research Institute (SRI), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
3
Power System Operation Computational Intelligence Research Group (POSC), School of Electrical Engineering,
College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Article Info ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received Jul 1, 2022
Revised Aug 26, 2022
Accepted Sep 15, 2022
Reducing the self-power consumption of an off-grid solar home system is an
economic model in which consumer employs photovoltaic (PV) system for its
own electrical requirements. The latch-based clock gating approach has been
employed in existing solar charge controllers to reduce integrated circuit (IC)
power being used in the low-powered intended mode, although the reducing
power is limited. This paper presents a self-power reduction technique based
on wake-up power and latch-hold time; which minimize power supply during
idle time for a solar home system. Wake-up power introduces a push-switch
mechanism using typical transistor technology. Latch-hold time function is
designed using an operational amplifier and negative-positive-negative (NPN)
transistor. A technique with dynamic self-supply mechanism is also
introduced for decreasing self-power consumption. The self-power
consumption is identified via simulation studies where the result shows that
the power usage is 70% lower than traditional approaches. This is determined
using a simulated wave-shape analysis.
Keywords:
Latching
Push switch mechanism
Self-power consumption
Sizing of solar panel
Solar home system
Time hold on
This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.
Corresponding Author:
Hasmaini Mohamad
Power System Planning and Operations Research Group (PoSPO)
School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: hasmaini@uitm.edu.my
1. INTRODUCTION
Installing off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in rural areas in developing countries dramatically
reduces the electric load mainly on the local utility grid, lessening load shedding in the country [1]. An off-
grid Solar Home System (SHS) is suitable for isolated areas with typical energy consumption for two or three
lamps, one fan, and/or one television that does not exceed 150 watt peak (Wp) [2]. An off-grid SHS consists
of five main elements that are a solar module, a lead-acid battery, a direct current to alternative current (DC-
AC) inverter or direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter, DC-powered home appliances, and solar
charge controlling device [3]. SHS has a big challenge in minimizing self-power consumption when solar panel
is only employed for power generation, and the battery is employed for energy storage [4]. The solar charge
controller has been one of the fundamental elements attached to the battery, solar panel, as well as loads that
monitor the charging and discharging of the battery. It is necessary to reduce its self-power consumption since
the solar charger has been connected to the system for 24 hours [5].](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2922187-240927052201-2310116b/85/A-new-technique-in-reducing-self-power-consumption-in-the-controller-of-off-grid-solar-home-system-1-320.jpg)
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Quoilin et al. [6] several research studies have been attempted to quantifying self-consumption in
terms of system design. The winter self-sufficiency rate (SSR) ranges from 30% to 66%, whereas the summer
SSR ranges from 46% to 99%. When SSRs above 70%, the solar PV and battery system become prohibitively
huge. The system monitoring management increases self-consumption by just 7%, and the method does not
appear to be economically feasible. However, this causes a shorter of backup time due to battery depletion.
Chowdhury and Mourshed [7] presented a charge controller's self-power consumption should not exceed 20mA
in the operating voltage range. It has been observed that charge controllers that employ an electromagnetic
relay instead of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) for low voltage disconnect
(LVD) and high voltage disconnect (HVD) operations have higher self-power consumption. In [8], on the other
hand, as the internet of everything (IoE) grows in popularity, the development of power sources to efficiently
power IoE devices is becoming increasingly vital in off-grid areas. Off-grid solar power systems presently face
significant difficulties in terms of energy storage and load monitoring.
Additional power is necessary to operate the DC-powered switchboards and solar charge controller.
Throughout most cases, electrochemical batteries have been used to power the sensors, this will also result in
elevated costs due to the need for battery replacement and more significantly there are environmental pollution
issues due to battery waste [9]. Even though some of them have been constructed to use energy from the wind
or the sun, devices are constrained by these circumstances [10]. On the other hand, these devices have often
been enormous, and even as fabrication technology advances, the devices have complicated structures that are
accompanied by a reduced size [11]. It is crucial to channel as much energy as possible into the photovoltaic
panels while somehow attempting to reduce the energy consumption of the wireless sensor node to a minimal
level [12].
Wake-up technology has shown to be an effective method for reducing power consumption and
extending the service life of home appliances [13]. In other words, the wake-up system recognizes extrinsic
incentives with low consumption and activates the power networks. The 0.18m complementary metal-oxide-
semiconductor (CMOS) technology of the piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit may operate well for varied
flipping inductances with a completely integrated control [14]. An active rectifier with an unbalanced Schmitt
trigger is used to decrease static power usage and therefore also improve the power quality efficiency [15].
Moreover, the cold-start capability implies that the circuit remains functioning effectively even in the absence
of an applied wake-up signal. In normal conditions, the energy extraction efficiency of the circuit is 4.6 times
greater than that of the traditional complete bridge rectifier circuit [11]. The device is powered through an on-
chip solar cell including an output voltage of up to 600mV; the device implements a cross-coupled charge
pump DC-DC converter and Stacked MOSFET high voltage drivers to generate and handle a 6.5V to 10V
signal used to induce the gate oxide breakdown of 100µ𝑚2
metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors
(memory cells) working as anti-fuses through the use of a digital control signal that is executed in tens of
milliseconds [16].
According to Do et al. [17] battery storage can significantly enhance self-consumption, even with the
performance of each unit storage area decreasing with battery size. Performance improvements from load
balancing and battery storage are almost similar when compared to daily PV power output. Self-power
consumption management in a solar home system seems to have the potential to enhance power generation
values by a few percent on a yearly basis [18]. Belattar et al. [19] charging controls used were mostly based
on the single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) - pulse width modulation (PWM) technique. The
SEPIC-based converter is often used in battery-powered operating devices because it can be executed either
on a step-up or perhaps a step-down device. A PWM-based charge controller can be used to maximize output
power depending on the temperature of both the panel and the irradiance condition [20]. The SEPIC converter
could also be controlled by a PWM-based charge controller to ensure a stable load voltage [21]. Nevertheless,
some key considerations such as self-consumption, electromagnetic interference (EMI), the algorithm of fixed
frequency current mode control, surge voltage, and lightning protection were not identified.
This research study is intended to reduce the self-power consumption of an SHS, with an emphasis
on reducing the size of solar modules and energy storage devices, which are the major elements of an SHS. In
order to achieve the research goals, the solar controller's algorithm of fixed frequency current control mode
and push button switch approaches have been employed. This research study simulates a technique for reducing
self-power consumption employing LT-Spice software.
2. OFF-GRID SOLAR CONTROLLER DESIGN
This research work was applied in an off-grid solar controller which has two functions: PWM solar
charge controller and DC-DC converter including a common ground device. Both parts of the controller are
designed based on the fixed frequency current mode algorithm. The algorithm has evolved into a dynamic self-
supply mechanism that significantly simplifies the configuration of the auxiliary supply and voltage common](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2922187-240927052201-2310116b/85/A-new-technique-in-reducing-self-power-consumption-in-the-controller-of-off-grid-solar-home-system-2-320.jpg)
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capacitor. The self-supply circuits shall maintain the V𝐶𝐶 voltage at its threshold level [22]. The FB port
imbalance is delivered by low consumption current sources from the external V𝐶𝐶 capacitor. When the FB port
voltage is raised, this mode will change.
2.3. Frequency foldback mode
As enhance efficiency under light load situations, the frequency of the internal oscillator is linearly
decreased from its setpoint to the oscillation frequency. The maximum on-time duration control is maintained
during frequency foldback mode to ensure natural transformer core anti-saturation protection. The frequency
foldback reduces operating frequency under no-load conditions at the output voltage. For the frequency
foldback mode, the current setpoint is fixed to 300 mV, which is below the feedback voltage level.
3. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSED DESIGN
Push switch mechanism and fixed frequency current control algorithm are being applied together to
develop a controller device. These are the off-program mode approach and accessible set time for system
monitoring signals. As system status indicators, electronic devices that use LCD and LED displays are
employed [23]. These operational systems should be performed two to three times every day, for approximately
30 seconds each time. Although the power has been consumed for 24 hours, it has only been used for
approximately 30 seconds; this is also a form of power consumption. This procedure is carried out by the push
switch circuit mechanism, which consists mostly of an Op-amp and an NPN transistor, as illustrated in Figure 1.
This research work’s attention is focused on reducing the self-power consumption between the photovoltaic
system and energy storage mechanism with connected AC power operated home appliances. Meanwhile, the
dynamic self-supply mechanism significantly reduces the complexity of the auxiliary supply and V𝐶𝐶 capacitor
by activating the internal start-up current source to power the controller during start-up, transients, latch, and
stand by. Based on input voltage and loading parameters, this operation can be performed either in continuous
conduction or discontinuous conduction mode.
A dedicated off program allows the fixed-frequency current control mode to achieve an exceptionally
low no-load input power consumption through the “sleeping” of the entire system, thus reducing the power
consumption of the control circuitry. Based on the frequency fold-back, the controller has outstanding
efficiency in light load conditions whilst also maintaining very low stationary power usage. Specific frequency,
ramp compensation and versatile latch feedback enable the controller to produce an outstanding output for the
desired design. Timing model is a key factor for the research work. The mode is a timing of the circuit with a
level-sensitive latch and is presented as a manual push switch mechanism. Timing model for the latch-
controlled circuit is described by a sample clock schedule, which is illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Sample clock schedule
Positive voltage sensitivity, which represents a single cycle operation is considered in Figure 3.
Variable in the clock model denote the set time Ts, hold time Td, time fall T𝑓, time rise Tr and voltage across
the switch V𝑠𝑤. This enables the simulation of both positive and negative level sensitive algorithms, as these
clock events govern the releasing and shutting of each latch involved. The difference throughout clock hold](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2922187-240927052201-2310116b/85/A-new-technique-in-reducing-self-power-consumption-in-the-controller-of-off-grid-solar-home-system-4-320.jpg)
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Figure 5. Voltage shape when pressing the push button switch
Figure 6. Waveform of low consumption off-mode point
The mechanism has been applied in a solar controller that obtained these test result values of self-
power consumption: 0.651mW for PWM solar charger part, 12.13mW for DC-DC converter part, 3.07mW for
voltage part, and 1.04mW for push button switch mechanism. Consequently, total self-power consumption
during no load condition is 16.89mW. The solar charge controller portion requires less self-power than the
voltage comparator portion since its controller IC consisted of self-supply circuits at its threshold voltage level
under no-load circumstances. However, if the current and voltage were measured individually based on the
device function under various load conditions, the resulting power values are as presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Test measurement of various load conditions during day and night time
Solar
irradiance
(W/m²
PWM Solar charge controller DC-DC converter (12V-120V)
Charging
Voltage at
battery end (V)
Charging
current at
battery end (A)
Charging
Efficiency
(ƞ%)
Connected
load resistor
(Ω)
Input
power
(W)
Output
power
(W)
Conversion
efficiency (ƞ%)
1000 10.37 11.21 89.41% 300 62.12 55.97 90%
800 10.37 9.22 89.64% 250 82.45 73.01 88%
600 10.77 7.28 93.37% 200 103.41 88.23 85%
400 10.96 5.32 97.96% 150 128.33 109.49 85%
200 11.16 3.36 96.19% 100 166.79 142.93 85%
Night Hours
Dark 0 0 0 90 168.02 143.14 85%
All test results obtained include the device’s self-power under all load conditions. This signifies that
self-power consumption is present at any period under any load scenario, which is shown in Table 2. When the
household appliances are connected as loads at the output of the DC-DC converter, the self-power consumption
and actual loaded power consumption constitute total power consumption. Off-grid SHS customers use the
load at night, but solar charging processes occur during the day, hence the system must be operational 24 hours
a day, seven days a week [24]. As a consequence, the system power usage per day is 732.24mW. According to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2922187-240927052201-2310116b/85/A-new-technique-in-reducing-self-power-consumption-in-the-controller-of-off-grid-solar-home-system-6-320.jpg)
![Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694
A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the controller of … (Mohammad Shariful Islam)
2241
previous research, the power consumption of solar charging systems during idle circumstances is 26.35 watts
per day.
Figure 7 shows the simulated V-I curve where V(+12V) is the supply voltage across the battery port;
Ix(U3:V+) is the current across the comparator IC of load switching alignment; Ix(U4:Vcc) is the current across
the DC-DC converter controller IC; Ix(U1:V+) is the current across the comparator IC of solar charging
switching alignment; Ix(U2:Vcc) is the current across the PWM solar charging controller IC; and Ix(U5:V+)
is the current across the comparator IC of push button switching signal. According to the design principles of
the analogue PWM controller IC, the current mode control scheme includes pulse-by-pulse detection. The close
loop error voltage detection with pulse-by-pulse recognizing techniques has been used to obtain low power
consumption during the no-load circumstances. Ix(U4:Vcc) and Ix(U2:Vcc) indicate the current waveform
across the VCC power supply port during no-load conditions, with the waveform deriving from the pulse-by-
pulse detection approach [25].
Under no-load circumstances, the system output connected load is practically zero watts; however, all
controller IC (solar PWM charge controller portion and DC-DC converter portion) and op-amp IC (voltage
comparator part and push-button switch mechanism part) are activated and consume power, which really is the
self-power consumption of the system.
Figure 7. V-I curves under no-load condition.
5. CONCLUSION
This research paper has presented the techniques for reducing the self-power consumption in a power
controller for an off-grid solar home system (SHS). A new solution that employs a combination of the push
switch mechanism and fixed frequency current control algorithm to directly solve the self-power consumption
concerns while reducing prices has been presented. This technique can be applied to both designated positive
and negative voltage levels. As a result, users will be able to reduce self-power consumption, which is equal to
the size of 50 Wp solar panels; this allows a reduction in the size of the solar modules while keeping the same
features.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia for knowledge, facilities and financial support.
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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS
Mohammad Shariful Islam received the Diploma in Engineering (Electronics
Technology) from Comilla Polytechnic Institute, Comilla, Bangladesh, in 2003, Bachelor of
Science in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE) from United International University
(UIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010 and he is currently pursuing the Master of Science in
Electrical Engineering (Research) at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Selangor,
Malaysia. From Sep 2003 until Aug 2010, he had been working as an engineer at various
companies. In Sep 2010, he had been working as a Manager in R&D Department, Solar
Intercontinental (SOLAR-IC) Ltd, until May 2017. He is the author of one book, more than 7
articles, and more than 30 designed for solar home system and home appliances. His research
interests include solar energy management, renewable energy sources, analogue circuit, solar
nano-grid, solar micro-grid, Net-Zero-Energy (NZE) house, battery charging mechanism,
electrical vehicle DC-DC converter, energy efficient mechanism, and holistic design
optimization of power electronics converters. He can be contacted at email:
2020632394@student.uitm.edu.my.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2922187-240927052201-2310116b/85/A-new-technique-in-reducing-self-power-consumption-in-the-controller-of-off-grid-solar-home-system-8-320.jpg)
A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the controller of off-grid solar home system
- 1. International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems (IJPEDS) Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2022, pp. 2235~2243 ISSN: 2088-8694, DOI: 10.11591/ijpeds.v13.i4.pp2235-2243 2235 Journal homepage: http://ijpeds.iaescore.com A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the controller of off-grid solar home system Mohammad Shariful Islam1 , Siti Zaliha Mohammad Noor2 , Hasmaini Mohamad1 , Nur Ashida Salim1 , Zuhaila Mat Yasin3 1 Power System Planning and Operations Research Group (PoSPO) School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Solar Research Institute (SRI), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Power System Operation Computational Intelligence Research Group (POSC), School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Received Jul 1, 2022 Revised Aug 26, 2022 Accepted Sep 15, 2022 Reducing the self-power consumption of an off-grid solar home system is an economic model in which consumer employs photovoltaic (PV) system for its own electrical requirements. The latch-based clock gating approach has been employed in existing solar charge controllers to reduce integrated circuit (IC) power being used in the low-powered intended mode, although the reducing power is limited. This paper presents a self-power reduction technique based on wake-up power and latch-hold time; which minimize power supply during idle time for a solar home system. Wake-up power introduces a push-switch mechanism using typical transistor technology. Latch-hold time function is designed using an operational amplifier and negative-positive-negative (NPN) transistor. A technique with dynamic self-supply mechanism is also introduced for decreasing self-power consumption. The self-power consumption is identified via simulation studies where the result shows that the power usage is 70% lower than traditional approaches. This is determined using a simulated wave-shape analysis. Keywords: Latching Push switch mechanism Self-power consumption Sizing of solar panel Solar home system Time hold on This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license. Corresponding Author: Hasmaini Mohamad Power System Planning and Operations Research Group (PoSPO) School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Email: hasmaini@uitm.edu.my 1. INTRODUCTION Installing off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in rural areas in developing countries dramatically reduces the electric load mainly on the local utility grid, lessening load shedding in the country [1]. An off- grid Solar Home System (SHS) is suitable for isolated areas with typical energy consumption for two or three lamps, one fan, and/or one television that does not exceed 150 watt peak (Wp) [2]. An off-grid SHS consists of five main elements that are a solar module, a lead-acid battery, a direct current to alternative current (DC- AC) inverter or direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter, DC-powered home appliances, and solar charge controlling device [3]. SHS has a big challenge in minimizing self-power consumption when solar panel is only employed for power generation, and the battery is employed for energy storage [4]. The solar charge controller has been one of the fundamental elements attached to the battery, solar panel, as well as loads that monitor the charging and discharging of the battery. It is necessary to reduce its self-power consumption since the solar charger has been connected to the system for 24 hours [5].
- 2. ISSN: 2088-8694 Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2022: 2235-2243 2236 Quoilin et al. [6] several research studies have been attempted to quantifying self-consumption in terms of system design. The winter self-sufficiency rate (SSR) ranges from 30% to 66%, whereas the summer SSR ranges from 46% to 99%. When SSRs above 70%, the solar PV and battery system become prohibitively huge. The system monitoring management increases self-consumption by just 7%, and the method does not appear to be economically feasible. However, this causes a shorter of backup time due to battery depletion. Chowdhury and Mourshed [7] presented a charge controller's self-power consumption should not exceed 20mA in the operating voltage range. It has been observed that charge controllers that employ an electromagnetic relay instead of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) for low voltage disconnect (LVD) and high voltage disconnect (HVD) operations have higher self-power consumption. In [8], on the other hand, as the internet of everything (IoE) grows in popularity, the development of power sources to efficiently power IoE devices is becoming increasingly vital in off-grid areas. Off-grid solar power systems presently face significant difficulties in terms of energy storage and load monitoring. Additional power is necessary to operate the DC-powered switchboards and solar charge controller. Throughout most cases, electrochemical batteries have been used to power the sensors, this will also result in elevated costs due to the need for battery replacement and more significantly there are environmental pollution issues due to battery waste [9]. Even though some of them have been constructed to use energy from the wind or the sun, devices are constrained by these circumstances [10]. On the other hand, these devices have often been enormous, and even as fabrication technology advances, the devices have complicated structures that are accompanied by a reduced size [11]. It is crucial to channel as much energy as possible into the photovoltaic panels while somehow attempting to reduce the energy consumption of the wireless sensor node to a minimal level [12]. Wake-up technology has shown to be an effective method for reducing power consumption and extending the service life of home appliances [13]. In other words, the wake-up system recognizes extrinsic incentives with low consumption and activates the power networks. The 0.18m complementary metal-oxide- semiconductor (CMOS) technology of the piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit may operate well for varied flipping inductances with a completely integrated control [14]. An active rectifier with an unbalanced Schmitt trigger is used to decrease static power usage and therefore also improve the power quality efficiency [15]. Moreover, the cold-start capability implies that the circuit remains functioning effectively even in the absence of an applied wake-up signal. In normal conditions, the energy extraction efficiency of the circuit is 4.6 times greater than that of the traditional complete bridge rectifier circuit [11]. The device is powered through an on- chip solar cell including an output voltage of up to 600mV; the device implements a cross-coupled charge pump DC-DC converter and Stacked MOSFET high voltage drivers to generate and handle a 6.5V to 10V signal used to induce the gate oxide breakdown of 100µ𝑚2 metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors (memory cells) working as anti-fuses through the use of a digital control signal that is executed in tens of milliseconds [16]. According to Do et al. [17] battery storage can significantly enhance self-consumption, even with the performance of each unit storage area decreasing with battery size. Performance improvements from load balancing and battery storage are almost similar when compared to daily PV power output. Self-power consumption management in a solar home system seems to have the potential to enhance power generation values by a few percent on a yearly basis [18]. Belattar et al. [19] charging controls used were mostly based on the single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) - pulse width modulation (PWM) technique. The SEPIC-based converter is often used in battery-powered operating devices because it can be executed either on a step-up or perhaps a step-down device. A PWM-based charge controller can be used to maximize output power depending on the temperature of both the panel and the irradiance condition [20]. The SEPIC converter could also be controlled by a PWM-based charge controller to ensure a stable load voltage [21]. Nevertheless, some key considerations such as self-consumption, electromagnetic interference (EMI), the algorithm of fixed frequency current mode control, surge voltage, and lightning protection were not identified. This research study is intended to reduce the self-power consumption of an SHS, with an emphasis on reducing the size of solar modules and energy storage devices, which are the major elements of an SHS. In order to achieve the research goals, the solar controller's algorithm of fixed frequency current control mode and push button switch approaches have been employed. This research study simulates a technique for reducing self-power consumption employing LT-Spice software. 2. OFF-GRID SOLAR CONTROLLER DESIGN This research work was applied in an off-grid solar controller which has two functions: PWM solar charge controller and DC-DC converter including a common ground device. Both parts of the controller are designed based on the fixed frequency current mode algorithm. The algorithm has evolved into a dynamic self- supply mechanism that significantly simplifies the configuration of the auxiliary supply and voltage common
- 3. Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694 A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the controller of … (Mohammad Shariful Islam) 2237 collector (Vcc) capacitor by enabling internal startups, transients, latch standby, and other features. Dynamic self-supply is important for keeping the controller alive when no switching pulses are accessible, including when the controller is blown out, or to keep the controller from stopping during a transient load when Vcc can drop. It also contains a timer-based fault detection mechanism for overload detection and dynamic compensation to ensure maximum power despite input voltage. Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the research framework for this study. Battery (12V DC) Fixed Frequency Algorithm PWM Topology Switching device Fly-back transforme r DC-Link capacitor Vout (120V DC) Load Short circuit & overload protection Soft starter mechanism Voltage mode mechanism N- MOSFET driver 2.2V 12V 12V 120V Solar panel Fixed Frequency Algorithm PWM Topology Switching device 20 V 2.2V Load off Voltage comparator circuit N- MOSFET driver Surge voltage protection 20V LC filter & N-MOSFET drive voltage boost up Charging switching device Charging Voltage 12 V DC-DC converter (12V to 120V) PWM Solar Charge Controller Latch hold time Op-amp 5V Reference voltage Push switch conducting LED/LCD display Figure 1. Block diagram of push switch technique in a system It is essential to consider the relevant variables based on maximum and minimum values (1 and 0) with respect to time while developing design concepts for push button switch mechanisms of the solar charge controller. The design considerations include the latching time, low consumption off-mode and frequency foldback mode. 2.1. Latching -time hold The latching time is determined to correlate to the customer-required observation of system function. Latch mode is focused on the latch-off function as well as where it usually has two detection levels i.e. a high and a low latch. The system controller is allowed to proceed within two specific thresholds. Nevertheless, if either a low or high threshold is exceeded, the system controller will latch off. It uses a manual pushbutton switch to set the latching time. 2.2. The low consumption off-mode The low consumption off-mode has been incorporated, providing for an incredibly low no-load input power. The PWM controller IC has a feedback (FB) port, and once the port voltage level falls below 0.4V, the controller switches to the off mode. When the internal voltage common collector (VCC) is activated, the PWM controller consumes very little current, and the self-supply circuit just maintains the voltage at the external
- 4. ISSN: 2088-8694 Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2022: 2235-2243 2238 capacitor. The self-supply circuits shall maintain the V𝐶𝐶 voltage at its threshold level [22]. The FB port imbalance is delivered by low consumption current sources from the external V𝐶𝐶 capacitor. When the FB port voltage is raised, this mode will change. 2.3. Frequency foldback mode As enhance efficiency under light load situations, the frequency of the internal oscillator is linearly decreased from its setpoint to the oscillation frequency. The maximum on-time duration control is maintained during frequency foldback mode to ensure natural transformer core anti-saturation protection. The frequency foldback reduces operating frequency under no-load conditions at the output voltage. For the frequency foldback mode, the current setpoint is fixed to 300 mV, which is below the feedback voltage level. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSED DESIGN Push switch mechanism and fixed frequency current control algorithm are being applied together to develop a controller device. These are the off-program mode approach and accessible set time for system monitoring signals. As system status indicators, electronic devices that use LCD and LED displays are employed [23]. These operational systems should be performed two to three times every day, for approximately 30 seconds each time. Although the power has been consumed for 24 hours, it has only been used for approximately 30 seconds; this is also a form of power consumption. This procedure is carried out by the push switch circuit mechanism, which consists mostly of an Op-amp and an NPN transistor, as illustrated in Figure 1. This research work’s attention is focused on reducing the self-power consumption between the photovoltaic system and energy storage mechanism with connected AC power operated home appliances. Meanwhile, the dynamic self-supply mechanism significantly reduces the complexity of the auxiliary supply and V𝐶𝐶 capacitor by activating the internal start-up current source to power the controller during start-up, transients, latch, and stand by. Based on input voltage and loading parameters, this operation can be performed either in continuous conduction or discontinuous conduction mode. A dedicated off program allows the fixed-frequency current control mode to achieve an exceptionally low no-load input power consumption through the “sleeping” of the entire system, thus reducing the power consumption of the control circuitry. Based on the frequency fold-back, the controller has outstanding efficiency in light load conditions whilst also maintaining very low stationary power usage. Specific frequency, ramp compensation and versatile latch feedback enable the controller to produce an outstanding output for the desired design. Timing model is a key factor for the research work. The mode is a timing of the circuit with a level-sensitive latch and is presented as a manual push switch mechanism. Timing model for the latch- controlled circuit is described by a sample clock schedule, which is illustrated in Figure 2. Figure 2. Sample clock schedule Positive voltage sensitivity, which represents a single cycle operation is considered in Figure 3. Variable in the clock model denote the set time Ts, hold time Td, time fall T𝑓, time rise Tr and voltage across the switch V𝑠𝑤. This enables the simulation of both positive and negative level sensitive algorithms, as these clock events govern the releasing and shutting of each latch involved. The difference throughout clock hold
- 5. Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694 A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the controller of … (Mohammad Shariful Islam) 2239 lengths is being used to determine switching activity between latches. Time constraints used are shown in (1) and (2): (Tf - Tr) mode Vsw ˃ 0 (1) (Tf + Tr) mode Vsw ˂ 0 (2) Parameters in the circuit model include the minimum and maximum combinations between each connected pair of events. Variables in the circuit model denote earliest time duration di, the minimum delay time 𝛿t and maximum delay time ∆t. Consequently, the minimum time and maximum time combination is represented in (3). Timing verification and a clock schedule as illustrated in Figure 4 should be specified. δt ±∆t = ON MODE (3) Figure 3. Lockup latch time voltage 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION During the push switch operating mode, the system latching time is provided to correspond with the voltage and current value at high (1) or low (0) consumption levels. It employs a manual push-button switch to determine the latching time, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 5. When the no-load input power is zero, the low power consumption off-mode is activated from across the self-supply circuit to keep the VCC voltage of the controller at its threshold level. The functional waveform during that period is shown in Figure 6. Figure 4. Modeling of circuit section The design was simulated under the no-load conditions followed by others relevant test conditions such as device power connection being connected with a battery (12V), and the disconnection of the solar panel from a battery (12V). The system nominal voltage applied was 12V. The current was measured separately in accordance with all relevant functions of device and these measured voltage -current values are shown in Table 1. Table 1. The measurement of self-power consumption during no-load conditions Portion Voltage (V) Current (µA) Power(mW) PWM Solar Charger 12.2 53.32 0.651 DC-DC converter controller 12.2 994.56 12.13 Voltage comparator 12.2 251.78 3.07 Push switch mechanism 4.81 216.32 1.04 Total self-power consumption 1.52(mA) 16.89
- 6. ISSN: 2088-8694 Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2022: 2235-2243 2240 Figure 5. Voltage shape when pressing the push button switch Figure 6. Waveform of low consumption off-mode point The mechanism has been applied in a solar controller that obtained these test result values of self- power consumption: 0.651mW for PWM solar charger part, 12.13mW for DC-DC converter part, 3.07mW for voltage part, and 1.04mW for push button switch mechanism. Consequently, total self-power consumption during no load condition is 16.89mW. The solar charge controller portion requires less self-power than the voltage comparator portion since its controller IC consisted of self-supply circuits at its threshold voltage level under no-load circumstances. However, if the current and voltage were measured individually based on the device function under various load conditions, the resulting power values are as presented in Table 2. Table 2. Test measurement of various load conditions during day and night time Solar irradiance (W/m² PWM Solar charge controller DC-DC converter (12V-120V) Charging Voltage at battery end (V) Charging current at battery end (A) Charging Efficiency (ƞ%) Connected load resistor (Ω) Input power (W) Output power (W) Conversion efficiency (ƞ%) 1000 10.37 11.21 89.41% 300 62.12 55.97 90% 800 10.37 9.22 89.64% 250 82.45 73.01 88% 600 10.77 7.28 93.37% 200 103.41 88.23 85% 400 10.96 5.32 97.96% 150 128.33 109.49 85% 200 11.16 3.36 96.19% 100 166.79 142.93 85% Night Hours Dark 0 0 0 90 168.02 143.14 85% All test results obtained include the device’s self-power under all load conditions. This signifies that self-power consumption is present at any period under any load scenario, which is shown in Table 2. When the household appliances are connected as loads at the output of the DC-DC converter, the self-power consumption and actual loaded power consumption constitute total power consumption. Off-grid SHS customers use the load at night, but solar charging processes occur during the day, hence the system must be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week [24]. As a consequence, the system power usage per day is 732.24mW. According to
- 7. Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694 A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the controller of … (Mohammad Shariful Islam) 2241 previous research, the power consumption of solar charging systems during idle circumstances is 26.35 watts per day. Figure 7 shows the simulated V-I curve where V(+12V) is the supply voltage across the battery port; Ix(U3:V+) is the current across the comparator IC of load switching alignment; Ix(U4:Vcc) is the current across the DC-DC converter controller IC; Ix(U1:V+) is the current across the comparator IC of solar charging switching alignment; Ix(U2:Vcc) is the current across the PWM solar charging controller IC; and Ix(U5:V+) is the current across the comparator IC of push button switching signal. According to the design principles of the analogue PWM controller IC, the current mode control scheme includes pulse-by-pulse detection. The close loop error voltage detection with pulse-by-pulse recognizing techniques has been used to obtain low power consumption during the no-load circumstances. Ix(U4:Vcc) and Ix(U2:Vcc) indicate the current waveform across the VCC power supply port during no-load conditions, with the waveform deriving from the pulse-by- pulse detection approach [25]. Under no-load circumstances, the system output connected load is practically zero watts; however, all controller IC (solar PWM charge controller portion and DC-DC converter portion) and op-amp IC (voltage comparator part and push-button switch mechanism part) are activated and consume power, which really is the self-power consumption of the system. Figure 7. V-I curves under no-load condition. 5. CONCLUSION This research paper has presented the techniques for reducing the self-power consumption in a power controller for an off-grid solar home system (SHS). A new solution that employs a combination of the push switch mechanism and fixed frequency current control algorithm to directly solve the self-power consumption concerns while reducing prices has been presented. This technique can be applied to both designated positive and negative voltage levels. As a result, users will be able to reduce self-power consumption, which is equal to the size of 50 Wp solar panels; this allows a reduction in the size of the solar modules while keeping the same features. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia for knowledge, facilities and financial support. REFERENCES [1] Iqbal and M. Tariq Iqbal, “Design and analysis of a stand-alone PV system for a rural house in Pakistan,” Int. J. Photoenergy, vol. 2019, pp. 786–790, 2019, doi: 10.1155/2019/4967148. [2] N. Narayan, V. Vega-Garita, Z. Qin, J. Popovic-Gerber, P. Bauer, and M. Zeman, “A modeling methodology to evaluate the impact of temperature on Solar Home Systems for rural electrification,” 2018 IEEE Int. Energy Conf. ENERGYCON 2018, pp. 1–6, 2018, doi: 10.1109/ENERGYCON.2018.8398756. [3] M. Unde, K. Deokar, M. Hans, and S. Kawthe, “Closed-Loop Design of Fuzzy Logic Controller in Solar Power Generation,” in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Inventive Systems and Control, ICISC 2020, 2020, pp. 215–219, doi: 10.1109/ICISC47916.2020.9171191. [4] Tipantuna and X. Hesselbach, “IoT-Enabled Proposal for Adaptive Self-Powered Renewable Energy Management in Home Systems,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 64808–64827, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3073638. [5] M. Mohammadjafari, R. Ebrahimi, and V. Parvin Darabad, “Optimal Energy Management of a Microgrid Incorporating a Novel Efficient Demand Response and Battery Storage System,” J. Electr. Eng. Technol., vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 571–590, Mar. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s42835-020-00345-5.
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Waghmare, “Hardware Implementation of DC-DC SEPIC Converter for Applications of Renewable Energy Using PWM Based Charge Controller,” in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Electronics and Communication and Aerospace Technology, ICECA 2019, 2019, pp. 562–565, doi: 10.1109/ICECA.2019.8822229. [22] S. Xi, W. Li, J. Guo, and J. Liang, “A self-powered piezoelectric energy harvesting interface circuit based on adaptive SSHI with fully integrated switch control,” Proc. - IEEE Int. Symp. Circuits Syst., vol. 2020-Octob, pp. 2–5, 2020, doi: 10.1109/iscas45731.2020.9180969. [23] M. Islam and M. A. B. Sarkar, “An efficient smart solar charge controller for standalone energy systems,” 2015 Int. Conf. Electr. Drives Power Electron. EDPE 2015 - Proc., pp. 246–251, 2015, doi: 10.1109/EDPE.2015.7325301. [24] A. Desai, I. Mukhopadhyay, and A. Ray, “Exploring Technical and Economic Feasibility of a Stand-Alone Solar PV Based DC Distribution System over AC for Use in Houses,” Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovolt. Spec. Conf., vol. 2020-June, pp. 2387–2391, 2020, doi: 10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300411. [25] C. Vaz, C. Gurudas Nayak, and D. Nayak, “Pulse Width Modulation based Solar Charge Controller,” Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Electronics and Communication and Aerospace Technology, ICECA 2019, pp. 1067–1071, doi: 10.1109/ICECA.2019.8822050. BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS Mohammad Shariful Islam received the Diploma in Engineering (Electronics Technology) from Comilla Polytechnic Institute, Comilla, Bangladesh, in 2003, Bachelor of Science in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE) from United International University (UIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010 and he is currently pursuing the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Research) at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Selangor, Malaysia. From Sep 2003 until Aug 2010, he had been working as an engineer at various companies. In Sep 2010, he had been working as a Manager in R&D Department, Solar Intercontinental (SOLAR-IC) Ltd, until May 2017. He is the author of one book, more than 7 articles, and more than 30 designed for solar home system and home appliances. His research interests include solar energy management, renewable energy sources, analogue circuit, solar nano-grid, solar micro-grid, Net-Zero-Energy (NZE) house, battery charging mechanism, electrical vehicle DC-DC converter, energy efficient mechanism, and holistic design optimization of power electronics converters. He can be contacted at email: 2020632394@student.uitm.edu.my.
- 9. Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694 A new technique in reducing self-power consumption in the controller of … (Mohammad Shariful Islam) 2243 Siti Zaliha Mohammad Noor obtained Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Hons) in 2005, M Sc Power Electronics in 2008 and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering in 2018 from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. She is currently a Research Fellow at Solar Research Institute (SRI), UiTM. She has authored and co-authored over 40 technical papers in indexed international journal and conferences. Her research interests are renewable energy, power electronics, modeling and simulation, signal processing and embedded controller applications. She is a certified energy manager, certified professional in measurement and verification (CPMV), and qualified person (QP) SEDA Malaysia grid- connected solar photovoltaic systems design. She is also attached to industry collaborations as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the Photovoltaic (PV) system and energy audit. She can be contacted at email: sitizaliha@uitm.edu.my. Hasmaini Mohamad received the B. Eng, M.Eng and Ph.D degrees from the University of Malaya in 1999, 2004 and 2013 respectively. She started her career as a lecturer in Universiti Teknologi MARA in 2003 where currently she is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Electrical Power Engineering studies, Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Apart from that, she has published more than 50 journal papers including high impact ISI journals and 20 conference papers. Her major research interest includes islanding operation of distributed generation, hydro generation, load sharing technique, and load shedding scheme. She can be contacted at email: hasmaini@uitm.edu.my. Nur Ashida Salim received her Ph.D.in Electrical Engineering from Universiti Teknologi MARA in 2015, Master’s in engineering (power system and electrical energy) from Universiti Malaya in 2006 and Bachelor’s in electrical engineering (Hons.) from Universiti Teknologi MARA in 2003. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Centre for Electrical Power Engineering Studies, School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, University Teknologi MARA. Her research includes power system reliability, power system planning, power system stability, power system asset management and other related areas. To date, she has published more than 40 journal articles and many proceeding papers. She can be contacted at email: nurashida606@uitm.edu.my. Zuhaila Mat Yasin graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia with honours degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 1998. She obtained her MSc degree in 2008 and PhD degree in 2015 from Universiti Teknologi MARA. She is currently a senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA. Her research interest includes power system operation, optimization, distributed generation, Artificial Intelligence and smart grid system. She can be contacted at email: zuhai730@uitm.edu.my.