Design and Implementation of Solar Based Dc Grid using Arduino Uno

Abstract

Renewable Energy Sources (RES) such as Solar Photovoltaic (PV) became more popular over the last decade due to increasing environmental awareness and tax exemption policies on the solar PV systems. Integration of solar PV using various smart load management techniques will boost the efficiency of the overall system by reducing the massive cost of electricity bills. There is a need to find efficient and expert ways to enjoy these RES exclusively. Besides providing the connection between different loads, this system has the ability to collect information and execute control commands for the households by providing continuous observations and information about both load and supply profile, convincing the end user to take preventive measures by switching the auxiliary load to save power. This paper presents implementation of a low cost Solar based DC grid using Arduino. In the proposed system, the node which acts as a microcontroller reads the power consumption by the loads in each unit through current sensor. When the excess amount of power is consumed at particular unit, the controller makes the relay cut off the supply to the loads, which will be continuously displayed through LCD. This DC based power system helps to eliminate the requirement of converters systems, reducing converter cost, power system complexity, improve efficiency and reliability.