The Extension of Battery Lives Used in a Solar Irrigation System with Regards to Charge-Discharge Numbers

Abstract

In the present study, an irrigation system with an adaptive control system and powered by solar photovoltaic panels was designed and implemented. The control circuit, which was produced by using dsPIC, performed the online processing of the data received from current-voltage sensors and liquid level measurements. Different from the other studies in the literature, in this study, the source from which the irrigation system is fed was determined based on the power produced by the panel. If the power produced by the panel was lower than the determined power value, the system was fed from the battery, if higher, directly from the panel. With this developed algorithm, it was aimed to keep the tank full and to extend the expected life of the battery in terms of the number of charges-discharges through preventing the unnecessary discharge of the battery at times when water was needed. As the result of this study, the system was operated at an optimum level without requiring any energy other than the photovoltaic panel.