A Nuvation Engineering client wanted to enhance the solar energy harvesting capabilities of their remotely-installed smart meter relays. The enhancement was required because existing relay installations were in locations with limited access to power so they did not collect enough energy for sustained year-round operation. Nuvation Engineering's power electronics design team created an MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) solar battery charger for the data relays, which allowed the client to sustain operations throughout the entire year.
Design Features:
- Charges and monitors 1 or 2 lead acid batteries (each 40 Ah at 12 V)
- Draws power from 1, 2 or 3 solar panels (panels up to 85 W each)
- Advanced charge profile for cyclic use and max longevity
- Firmware developed using OpenRTOS on Texas Instruments MSP430 MCU
- Backwards-compatible form factor and UART command set
- Charge rate up to 8 A at 14.4 V (= 115 W)
Services Provided:
