Portable Photovoltaic System for Charging and Micro- Scale Heating

Emboldened by the continually increasing demand for sustainable and portable energy resources, the development of solar-based systems in a compact fashion for use in offgrid systems has also evolved. This paper addresses the design and experimentations carried out on a solar-powered heating and charging station, which is further connected with a 10Wp solar PV panel, a 12V/24V solar charge controller, a 12V Lithium-Ion battery, and a nichrome wire heating element. In the proposed system, solar radiations are initially converted to electrical energy, which then goes through regulation and further energy storage for later use. This stored energy can further be used for charging small electronic devices, such as mobile phones, and producing heat through Joule heating. This heating device can further be used for heating small amount of water, through a properly controlled process. Some experimental results have demonstrated that the working of the proposed system largely depends on the solar radiation intensity and the connected loads. Although it provides a lower power conversion, this design provides an efficient use of solar energy in a compact, portable manner, which can be used in an educational setup or in a disaster management scenario.