2014 Fifth International Conference on Intelligent Systems, Modelling and Simulation

Building of A Portable Solar AC & DC Power Supply

Luo-Qi Soh Chee-Chiang Derrick Tiew

SIM University, School of Science & Technology, SIM University, School of Science & Technology,
Singapore Singapore
e-mail: lqsoh001@unisim.edu.sg e-mail: derricktiew001@unisim.edu.sg

Abstract—This paper presents the building process of a small

scale, cost effective portable solar power supply. The end
product comes with a solar panel to capture and convert solar
energy to electrical energy. The electrical energy was stored in
a rechargeable battery with a charge controller to regulate the
charging process. A battery level indicator was in place to
monitor the battery storage capacity. A low-cost square wave
inverter was built to generate the AC power supply required
for the operation of low power rated household devices. A Figure 1. Photogeneration of electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor
voltage regulator was constructed to step down the 12V DC
voltage to a regulated 5V DC power supply for the charging of When an external circuit is connected across the solar cell,
handheld devices like smartphones and tablets. The final the excited electrons will flow through the external circuit to
product carries a weight of 5.5kg that provides both
recombine with the holes in the p-region as shown in Fig. 2
simultaneously a portable 230V 50W AC power generator and
a regulated 5V 1W DC power supply source in times of
[2]. The flow of electrons through the external circuit
emergency. constitutes the direct current which could be stored in a
rechargeable battery. An inverter could then be used to
Keywords-solar panel; charge controller; inverter; voltage convert the direct current (DC) to alternate current (AC) to
regulator; battery indicator; portable power supply power up electrical appliances that rely on AC power supply.
An example is Tahsina H. Loba & Khosru M. Salim [3] who
I. INTRODUCTION designed and implemented a micro-inverter for solar home
system.
With the improvement in technology over the years,
consumption of power to support the standard of living has
also increased tremendously. This led to the fact that we
need to find a way to harvest energy from alternative
methods since traditional methods like burning will deplete
natural resources in time and also causes pollution. Solar
power is a source of ‘clean energy’ or ‘green energy’ and
together with its abundance, there is sufficient reason for us
to continue to explore solar energy not just as an alternative
energy source but as a potential foundation of energy
creation.
A solar cell is a basically a p-n junction device with no
direct voltage applied. The fundamental idea of a solar cell is Figure 2. Conversion of light energy to electrical energy
to convert light energy to electrical energy. Light energy,
which comes mainly from the sun, is transmitted by photons, The aim of this project is to build a portable AC and DC
small packets or quantum of light. Photons of sufficient power supply using solar panel to harness solar energy since
energy (greater than the bandgap of the material), creates it is considered a form of renewable energy which is readily
mobile electron–hole pairs in a semiconductor as shown in available. The power supply will be used for powering up
Fig. 1 [1]. Therefore, a solar cell converts light energy some low power home appliances. As it is portable, it could
which is a flow of photons, to electrical energy which is a also be used for outdoor activities.
flow of electrons. This is known as the photoelectric effect.
II. HARDWARE DEVICES
The photo-generated minority carriers will be collected at the
p-n junction where the excited electrons will get swept to the A. System Architecture
n-region while the holes will get swept to the p-region to
become majority carriers. The system architecture of the portable solar power
supply is illustrated in Fig. 3. The prototype consists of [4]:
x Solar panel for charging up the battery bank.

2166-0662/14 $31.00 © 2014 IEEE 445

DOI 10.1109/ISMS.2014.82
 x Charge controller to prevent over-charging which
is detrimental to the health of the battery.
x Voltage regulator for regulating a constant 5V DC
power supply.
x Inverter for converting DC to AC power supply,
and step it up to 230V by the use of a transformer to
provide AC voltage for the operating of low power
home appliances.
x Battery indicator to allow user to have an idea the
amount voltage left inside the battery bank.
x A storage box to contain all the electronic circuits
to prevent damage to components as well as the
danger to personnel using it since high AC voltage
is present.
Figure 3. Integrated system of a portable solar AC & DC power supply
Table I provides the overall system specification of the
portable power supply.
TABLE I. SPECIFICATION OF PORTABLE SOLAR POWER SUPPLY
Descriptions Specifications
Input voltage of solar panel 12 Volt – 21 Volt
Inverter output voltage (AC operations) 220-230 VAC
Voltage regulator output voltage (DC 5 Volt
operations)
Battery bank 12 Volt
Charge controller Able to charge 12 Volt
rechargeable battery
Battery meter Display a range of voltage
using LEDs
B. Hardware Design Theory and Calculations
Some calculations are needed to be carried out before
proceeding to hardware design stage. According to Ohm’s
Law, the current flowing across an electronic component
inside a circuit should be directly proportional to amount of
voltage applied, while keeping the resistance constant. Using
the properties of Ohm’s law, we can now calculate the
capacity needed to operate some low wattage appliances
running at 230V AC supply. Table II tabulates the calculated
power consumption for selected hardware devices.
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TABLE II. POWER CONSUMPTION FOR SELECTED HARDWARE
DEVICES
Ratings Usage Consumption
Description Quantity
(Watts) (Hours) (Watt Hours)
Solar panel 30 - - 1
12 Volt,
Battery - - 2
40 AH
Fluorescent
30 2 60 2
bulb
Filament bulb 50 2 100 2
Laptop 35 2 70 1
1) This calculation is based on a list of items stated above.
The power ratings of some of the appliances were
obtained through web resources. The fluorescent lights
are rated at 15W each, so we based on operating 2 units
to achieve 30W. The filament bulb is rated at 25W, so we
based on operating 2 units to achieve 50W. As for the HP
laptop, since we know that it is drawing a current of
0.15A from an AC voltage of 230V, thus it is operating at
roughly 35W.
2) The number of watt hours required to operate them for a
period of 2 hours is (30+50+35)*2= 230 Watt Hours. The
figure is derived to determine when recharging of the
battery is needed.
3) To run the appliances for a period of 2 hours each day for
2 days, power consumption is 230*2 = 460 Watt Hours.
For this, we are assuming that the consumption is directly
from the battery alone considering there is no solar power
is available from the sun for that period of 2 days.
4) To prevent discharging of batteries to below 50% of their
full charged value assuming no sun light is available for
that period of 2 days, we therefore need to multiply the
consumption for 2 days by a factor of 2. Total Watt
Hours needed by the battery is thus 460*2 = 920 Watt
Hours. This factor is important because lifespan and
performance of the batteries can be increased if the
battery is always operating at a charged value greater
than 50% of the fully charged level.
5) For now, we need to determine the size of battery bank in
ampere hours which is needed for this design. The battery
we will be using is 12V, therefore the calculated ampere
hour need by the battery is 920/12 = 77 Ampere Hours. If
a 40 Ampere Hours battery is considered here,
77AH/40AH = 1.9 ~ 2 which means two batteries rated at
40AH are needed.
6) Finally, the last step is determining the rating of the solar
panel needed. Since we are considering this design to be
portable, we will limit the design to use of just 1 solar
panel. We assume that we have around 8 hours of solar
radiation daily. The daily consumption, which in this case
is 230 Watts Hours. To find the wattage required of the
solar panel, we take 230 = 8*(watts of solar panel),
giving us a value of 230/8 = 28.75. Therefore, a 30W
solar panel will be sufficient when considering this
design.
C. Selection of Solar Panel
With the consistent improvement in technology and
research development, there are many solar panels readily
available on the market. It is important to choose a solar
panel which is able to meet the objectives and goals of this
project. For the selection of solar panel, we look at the three
important factors which are:
x Cost
x Open Circuit Voltage
x Size
Cost
Of the three different types of solar panel (i.e. mono-
crystalline, poly-crystalline, and amorphous), mono-
crystalline is most expensive but has the highest efficiency.
Poly-crystalline is less expensive but its efficiency is lower
than mono-crystalline. Amorphous type is least expensive
but in terms of efficiency, it is also the lowest. So to get the
best of both worlds, poly-crystalline type solar panel was
selected for this project.
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc)
Since we need the solar panel to be able to charge a 12V
rechargeable battery, the open circuit voltage of the solar
panel must be greater than 12V to be able to charge the
battery efficiently.
Size
Since we need the design to be portable, we should not
choose a solar panel that is too bulky. Although we can join
small pieces of solar panels in parallel to increase the open
circuit voltage, we should choose a single piece of solar
panel which is framed to increase the overall durability.
We decided to use MC-SP5.0-GCS [5] which is a 5W
17.5V solar panel (Fig. 4) instead since the size of a 30W
solar panel is rather large and is not so suitable for a portable
design. With the use of a 5W instead of a 30W solar panel,
based on the calculation in Section II B, this means that we
need to cut down the use of electronic devices
proportionally.
This solar panel was chosen for the following features
described below:
x High efficiency
x High transparent low-iron, tempered glass
x Unique technique to give an aesthetic appearance
x Outstanding low light performance
Figure 4. Picture of MC-SP5.0 solar panel
D. Selection of Battery
There are mainly three types of rechargeable battery
which are available for use, i.e. Flooded lead acid, Gelled
electrolyte sealed lead acid, and Sealed Absorbed Glass Mat
(AGM) [6]. We decided to select sealed lead acid
rechargeable battery which is rated at 12 V, 7.2 Ampere
Hour as shown in Fig. 5. This type of battery is also not
expensive and is easily available in the market. It has also
been proven by electronic hobbyists that this type of battery
is guaranteed to work in an inverter design.
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There are several advantages of using lead acid battery:
• Maintenance free: Unlike using flooded lead acid, this
type of battery does not need to be filled with water to
work.
• Environment friendly: Literally, this is no emission of
harmfully gases since the gases produced are been
absorbed by the battery itself which means it can be
used anyway and does not require special ventilation
process.
• Spillage free: It is termed ‘sealed’ since we are unable
to gain access to the electrolytes stored inside the
battery which also means there is ease of installation
rendering it ideal for portable design. The chance of
getting acidic burns is also eliminated when
compared to using flooded lead acid type.
Figure 5. Picture of 12 Volt Sealed Lead Acid Battery
III. CIRCUIT DESIGNS
A. Charge Controller
Fig. 6 shows the intended charge controller circuit which
is used to charge the 12V battery [7]. This design is a simple
linear regulator. Although it does not have a low voltage
disconnect, it can prevent over charging of the battery by
automatically reducing the charging current to a low level
whenever the battery is fully charged. The input is connected
to the solar panel and the output is connected to the battery.
Figure 6. Charge controller circuit
Operation of the charge controller:
x Resistor R2 and Zener diode D2 form a 6V voltage
reference,
x Transistor Q1 and Q2 form the classical differential
amplifier which is capable of amplifying the difference
between the reference voltage and feedback voltage from
the potentiometer R9.
x Output taken from the collector of Q1 drives the gate of
the P-channel MOSFET M1.
x Differential voltage gain is in the range of between 100 -
200.
x As the feedback voltage increases at R9, Q2 will operate
faster since the base is connected to R9 and will result in
 stealing some emitter current away from Q1. Since the
collector current Q1 follows the emitter current, this will
cause a lower voltage drop across R4 which reduces the
Vsg of p-MOSFET M1, thus turning it off.
x Capacitor C2 is needed for providing frequency
compensation which prevents the amplifier from
oscillating.
x Transistor Q3 acts as a reverse battery protection which
does nothing unless the battery is connected in the wrong
polarity. When this happens, Q3 will turn on and reduces
the reference input voltage to zero which turns off
transistor Q1 and p-MOSFET M1and prevents the battery
from damaged.
x D1 is a red light emitting diode which turns on to indicate
the solar panel is in active mode and ready to charge the
battery.
x D4 is a green light emitting diode which turns on to
indicate the battery has reached a certain amount of
voltage. It can be pre-set by adjusting the value of
potentiometer R9 which we can set it to around 14V to
indicate the battery is fully charged.
B. Inverter
Since we are designing the portable power supply for
home and outdoor use, we need a design that is neither too
expensive nor too complex. After much consideration, we
decided to implement a square wave inverter since it is not
too complex to design, cheap and able to operate resistive
loads like light bulbs therefore making it suitable for simple
home and outdoor usage. Fig. 7 shows the circuit diagram of
the inverter [8].
Figurer 7. Inverter circuit
Operation of the inverter circuit:
x Circuit consists of 8 transistors, 8 resistors, 2 variable
resistors and 1 centre tap transformer.
x Transistors (Q1, Q2) are being used here as an astable
multi-vibrator which creates the alternation of current
needed for the transformer input. The frequency can be
adjusted to 50 Hz by adjusting the variable resistor R2 &
R3.
x The complementary outputs which are obtained from the
collectors of transistors (Q1, Q2) are then fed to the base
of transistors (Q4, Q3) respectively.
x Transistors (Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6) form a typical PNP
Darlington driver stage which is used to boost the current
from transistors (Q1, Q2) to a higher amount as needed.
x Outputs from the Darlington drivers are then fed to a pair
of 2N3055 power transistors (Q7, Q8) which provides the
required push-pull operation at the output stage.
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x Finally, outputs from the collectors of power transistors
(Q7, Q8) are connected to the primary side of a centre tap
transformer which would then step up the 12V voltage to
230V AC supply.
The circuit was simulated with Circuit Lab. As could be
seen in Fig. 7, the outputs from Q1 and Q2 produce a value
of 30.96mA as displayed on ammeter AM1 and AM2. After
going through the Darlington driver stage, the current is
amplified to 342.5mA as displayed on ammeter AM3 and
AM4. The two 2N3055 power transistors further amplify the
current to 22.48A (as displayed on ammeter AM5 and AM6)
which is required by the transformer to step up the required
AC voltage from 12V to 230V.
C. Voltage Regulator
The input voltage supplied from the 12V battery is not
stable enough for the charging of mobile phones. We need a
DC-DC step down voltage regulator to regulate a constant
voltage of 5V to render it suitable for charging. There are
two types of regulator which is linear regulator and
switching regulator. After considering the advantages of
switching regulator over linear regulator, the chosen
regulator is based on integrated circuit (IC) LM2575 chip.
This IC chip requires only 3 additional external components
(inductor, diode and capacitor) to work, and the output
produced is very stable. Fig. 8 shows the circuit diagram of
the voltage regulator [9].
Figurer 8. Circuit diagram of LM2575 Voltage Regulator
D. Battery Level Indicator
Since the battery will be depleted whenever the power
supply is being used, it is important to have some indicators
to allow the user to have a rough idea the amount of voltage
left inside the battery bank. Fig. 9 shows the circuit diagram
of the implemented battery level indicator drawn using
Circuit Wizard software.
Figure 9. Battery level indicator circuit
 Operation of the battery level indicator: After adjusting the potentiometer R9 (Fig. 6) on the charge
x The Zener diode D6 forms the voltage reference. controller, a 14.6V was obtained as shown in Fig. 12.
x Variable resistor VR1 and resistors (R2, R3, R4, R10)
will be used to set the various fixed voltage levels as
required.
x Resistors (R11, R12) form a voltage divider which
reduces the battery voltage by a factor of 3.
x IC LM339 chip is a comparator that compares the voltage
difference between the voltage divider and different
voltage levels formed by the resistors [10].
Figure 12. Calibration of the charge controller – 14,6 Volt
x The open collector output from the comparator functions
like a switch to turn ‘ON’ the LEDs (D1-D5)
accordingly. After sunlight was intentionally blocked, a 12.3V was
Simulation results show that when the battery is at a obtained at the output (Fig. 13) which means that the output
voltage of greater than 12V, all the LEDs will light up. When voltage is dependent on the amount of light. In order for the
the voltage of the battery drops to ~10.8V, only 3 LEDs are charge controller to function properly, sunlight must be
lit up as shown in Fig. 10. Once the battery is less than 9V, directed on the solar panel without blockage.
only the red LED will light up, and this means that it is time
to charge the battery prior to further operation.

Figure 13. Calibration of the charge controller – 12.3 Volt

A current of 102.6mA is flowing into the battery during

Figure 10. Simulation of battery level indicator with 10.8 Volt battery
voltage level
IV. HARWARE TESTING & RESULTS
This section will discuss the testing and results of the
hardware in building the solar power supply. Before the
components are soldered onto the veroboard, breadboard was
used to test each circuit design to ensure they are working
properly.
A. Testing of Solar Panel
Under a bright sunlight, the solar panel is able to achieve
a voltage of about 19.9V as shown in Fig. 11 which is quite
close to the value stated in the design specification (Table I).
We could then proceed to the next stage of hardware testing.
charging process as shown in Fig. 14. The battery shows a
voltage of 11.52V at the start of the charging process and
11.57V after a period of 20 minutes. This indicates that the
charge controller is able to charge the battery but at a slower
rate since the charging current is only about 100 mA.
Figure 14. Current produced by the charge controller
C. Testing of Inverter
The inverter circuit was breadboard and tested with a 230
V 0.25W neon light. The neon light was able to operate
smoothly and the output shows an AC voltage value of 265V
as shown in Fig. 15. This value is higher than the intended
230V since the neon light is of low wattage.

Figure 11. Open-circuit voltage of solar panel – 19.9 Volt

B. Testing of Charge Controller

To be able to charge the 12V battery, we need to obtain a
voltage of ~14.6V since it is understood that we need a
potential higher than 12V to successfully charge the battery.

Figure 15. Inverter operating a neon light

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 Next, the inverter was tested with a 230V 25W filament
bulb and it was able to power up successfully. The output
value of the square wave inverter drops to a value of 195V
(Fig. 16) as the bulb consumes high wattage when operating.
Figure16. Inverter operating a filament bulb
The inverter was then tested with a 230V 5W fluorescent
and it was able to power on successfully with an output AC
voltage of 236V as shown in Fig. 17. The voltage drop is
lesser due to the reduction in the wattage of load.
Figure 17. Inverter operating a fluorescent light
When the inverter is not powering any load, the current
drawn is about 2.08A as shown in Fig. 18. This indicates that
the square wave inverter has high idle power. Hence, the
inverter needs to be switched off even when not in use. Fig.
18 also shows that the current drawn by the inverter will
increase when powering a load.
Figure 18. Current drawn by the inverter
D. Testing of Voltage Regulator
The voltage regulator using IC LM2575 chip is
producing a constant 5V required as shown in Fig. 19.
Figure 19. Output voltage produced by the voltage regulator
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The voltage regulator is able to charge a Samsung S3
mobile phone connected to it as shown in Fig. 20.
Figure 20. Voltage regulator charging a mobile phone
The charging process draws a constant current of 0.08A
which is around 80 mA as shown in Fig. 21. Although the
charging current is quite small as compared to USB
charging on normal desktop, a smaller charging current will
prolong the lifespan of the rechargeable battery.
Figure 21. Current drawn during charging process
E. Testing of Battery Level Indicator
The battery indictor was tested with a 12V and 9V
battery. When battery voltage is less than 9V, only the red
led is lit up, and this indicates battery charging is needed.
When the battery voltage is around 11.35V, 3 LEDs are lit
up. When the battery is at a voltage level greater than 12.7V,
all LEDs are turned on, and this indicates the battery is at full
charge. Fig. 22 shows the testing results of the battery level
indicator.
Figure 22. Testing of the battery indicator circuit
The current drawn by the circuit is around 33mA when
all the LEDs are lit up as shown in Fig. 23. A toggle switch
is in place to power down this circuit since continuous
operation of this circuit tends to waste additional power.
Figure 23. Current drawn by the battery indicator circuit
 V. SYSTEM INTEGRATION
All the circuits, i.e. charge controller, inverter, voltage
regulator and battery level indicator, were installed on a
storage box as shown in Fig. 24.
Figure 24. Installation of circuits in a toolbox
In order to dissipate heat generated from the circuits
more efficiently, two small fans were installed in the box in
addition to a heat sink as shown in Fig. 23. Few tiny holes
were drilled along the rear top edge of the box to allow any
hot air to dissipate to the surrounding atmosphere.
The exterior of the storage box features a 3-pin power
socket to provide 230V AC supply, an USB port to provide
5V DC power supply, LED lights for battery level indicator
and operational status indicators, and switches for turning
on/off part of circuits for power savings. A solar panel is
mounted on top of the box as shown in Fig. 25.
Figure 25. Exterior view of the portable solar power supply end product
Fig. 26 shows the end product of the portable solar power
supply powering up a fluorescent bulb and charging a
Samsung Galaxy mobile phone at the same time. This shows
that the portable solar power supply has met its intended
objective and is capable of operating some low power rated
appliances. The end product carries a weight of 5.5kg which
is reasonably portable. It could serve as a versatile backup
power source in times of emergency.
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Figure 26. Testing of the portable solar power supply end product
VI. CONCLUSION
A portable solar power supply was successfully built to
the specification. The product is able to support
simultaneous operation of low-power rated electrical
appliances and charging of mobile phones. The product
makes use of a 17V solar panel to capture the sunlight and
convert it to electrical energy. A charge controller is in place
to regulate the charging process of the 12V rechargeable
battery. A low cost square wave inverter was built to
generate a 230V AC power supply from the 12V battery. To
support the charging of handheld devices such as
smartphones and tablets, a voltage regulator was
implemented to step down the 12V battery voltage level to a
regulated 5V. The final product features a 3-pin power
socket to provide a 230V 50W AC supply, and a USB port to
provide regulated 5V DC 1W power supply.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to express gratitude and
appreciation to School of Science & Technology, SIM
University for the provision of budget and support of this
project.
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