A New & Improved Charge Controller

Based on the 555 Chip

A simple charge controller for solar and wind systems
Several years ago I began
building my own wind
turbines and solar panels to
provide power on my
remote, off-grid property. A
charge controller is an
essential part of any wind or
solar system to ensure the
batteries aren't over or under
charged. The charge
controller monitors the
battery voltage and switches
the batteries off charge
when they are fully charged,
and switches them back on
charge when they reach a
pre-set level of discharge.
This is a new and improved
charge controller design based on the 555 chip.

When I originally posted my home-built wind turbine, solar panel and charge controller designs
on the web, they became wildly popular. Lots of people all over the world have built their own
versions. I get flooded with emails every day from people with comments or questions. A very
large percentage of the emails concern problems people are having building the original charge
controller design.

The original charge controller design is still working after years of field use. Lots of people all
over the world have built copies of it. The original story of the development of this charge
controller can be found on my wind turbine page.

Problem is, people with less electronics experience had trouble building it and getting it to work.
The circuit was rather complex and confusing for elecronics beginners. Some people in far-flung
parts of the world were having problems finding all the necessary parts. The daily flood of
emails requesting help with building the charge controller have prompted me to redesign it.

So I set myself the goal of greatly simplifying my solar/wind charge controller circuit. I wanted
to get it down to only one IC if possible, and reduce the number of other components as much as
possible. I also wanted to make sure it only contained easy to find components that should be
obtainable pretty much anywhere in the world. That way maybe more people would be able to
build it without running into problems.

One of my friends suggested I switch to using one of the popular microcontroller chips and
replace all the analog circuitry with one chip. That would certainly get the parts count way
down. However, I was worried that the microcontrollers would be too expensive or difficult to
obtain in some parts of the world, and too difficult for non-technical people to program. I
decided to stick with analog circuitry for now, though the microcontroller option is a possibility
for the future.

Here is the schematic of my

original charge controller
circuit. The heart of the
charge controller circuit
consists of a voltage divider,
two comparators, and an S-
R flip flop. My original idea
was to redesign it using the
LM339 Quad Comparator
IC. I'd need two of the
comparators for this circuit,
and could make an S-R flip-
flop using the other two left
over comparators on the
chip. I played around with
this idea for a while, and
even bread-boarded a few
test circuits. I was having
some trouble getting it to
work right though. So I
shelved the project for a
while and worked on other
things.

One other project I as

working on was a PWM
motor speed controller for
the pump I use with my
recirculating sluice box that
I use for gold prospecting.
The speed controller uses a
555 timer chip. While
looking at a diagram of the
internal structure of the 555
chip, I was struck by how
closely it resembles my original charge controller circuit. Suddenly I realized I could redesign
the charge controller circuit using the 555 chip and greatly simplify the circuit and reduce the
part count.

I set to work. In only a very

short time, I had a working
prototype circuit bread-
boarded. It worked right the
first try, which is rare for
me. I almost always make some sort of bone-head mistake wiring things up.

Here is a schematic of the

new charge controller
circuit. Click on it for a
larger, clearer version.

I was careful to use only

easy to find parts. The
NE555 is probably the most
popular IC in history.
Billions of them are made
every year. It should be easy
to find just about anywhere
in the world. I also switched
to a 5 Volt regulator from
the 8 Volt regulator the
earlier version used. People
were complaining they couldn't find it. The transistor is a 2N2222, NTE123, 2N3904, or other
similar general purpose small NPN transistor. The MOSFET is an IRF540 or similar power
MOSFET. I just happen to have a bunch of IRF540s on hand, left over from other projects. So I
used one of them rather than buying something else. Use whatever you can find.

All the resistors are 1/8 watt. 1/4 watt or higher resistors can be substituted if you don't have 1/8
Watt resistors. The two trimpots, R1 and R2, should ideally be multi-turn units, but ordinary
single-turn units can be substituted, with a slight loss of precision in the tuning. I used 10K
trimpots because I already had them on hand. Any value between 10K and 100K ought to work
just fine. 10% tolerance is plenty good enough on all the passive components. There is no need
for any precision parts in this circuit.

The relay is a general purpose SPDT automotive relay rated

at 40 amps. It should be very easy to find. Get one from an
auto parts store, or salvage one from a junked car in a scrap
yard. I have included a pinout for the relay for ease of
connection. 40 Amps may seem like overkill, but it allows
for expansion in the future. You may start with only one
small solar panel, then add a few more later, possibly a wind
turbine, and a bigger battery bank. Eventually the charge
controller will need to switch some serious current. Why not
build in the capability from day one? All other parts are specified below.

Most of the parts can be purchased at your local Radio Shack. The rest of the parts can be found
at auto parts stores, and online electronics suppliers like Digi-Key, Newark, etc. You might find
the online suppliers to be much cheaper, especially if you plan on building several units and need
multiples of each part. You could also try looking for deals on parts on Amazon.com. I buy my
automotive relays on Ebay. Even with shipping it is cheaper than the auto parts store, and they
are delivered right to my mail box.

IC1 - 7805 5 Volt positive Voltage Regulator R3, R4, R5 - 1K Ohm 1/8 Watt 10%
IC2 - NE555 Timer Chip R6 - 330 Ohm 1/8 Watt 10%
PB1, PB2 - NO Momentary Contact Push Buttons    R7 - 100 Ohm 1/8 Watt 10%
LED1 - Green LED Q1 - 2N2222 Or Similar NPN Transistor
LED2 - Yellow LED Q2 - IRF540 Or Similar Power MOSFET
RLY1 - 40 Amp SPDT Automotive Relay C1 - 0.33uF 35V 10%
D1 - 1N4001 or similar C2 - 0.1uF 35V 10%
R1, R2 - 10K Multi-Turn Trim-Pots
Once I had the prototype
working on the breadboard,
I built another unit on a
piece of Radio Shack
Protoboard for use in the
field. It came together in
only a couple of hours, and
again, worked the first time
(I must be living right
lately). This more rugged
version will get mounted in
a box and given a thorough
testing in the field.

Note that on this board I

have chosen to use the
78L05 version of the 5 Volt
regulator. It is in a tiny TO-
92 package, the same size as the 2N2222 transistor. It is the small, black rectangle on the upper
left corner of the board. It saves a lot of board space. It can only handle 100 mA, but that is
plenty enough to power this circuit. If you can't find the little 78L05, you can use the full size
TO-220 version of the 7805, which is much more common. There will be no penalty other than
using up a little more board real estate. I just happened to have a few of the 78L05s left over
from another project.

Once you have the circuit built, it is time to tune or calibrate it. I use 11.9V and 14.9V as my low
and high set points for the controller. These are the points where it switches from sending power
to the batteries to dumping power into a dummy load, and vice versa (a dummy load is only
needed if you are using a wind turbine, if using only solar panels, the dummy load line can be
left open).

Probably the best way to tune the circuit is to attach a variable DC power supply to the battery
terminals. Set the power supply to 11.9V. Measure the voltage at Test Point 1. Adjust R1 until
the voltage at the test point is as close to 1.667V as you can get it. Now set your variable power
supply to 14.9V and measure the voltage at Test Point 2. Adjust R2 until the voltage at the test
point is as close to 3.333V as you can get it.

Test the operation of the charge controller by running the input voltage up and down between
about 11.7 and 15.1 Volts. You should hear the relay pull in at about 14.9 Volts and open at
about 11.9 Volts. In between the two set points the controller should stay in whichever state it is
in. The Charge and Dump buttons can be used to change the state of the controller when the
input Voltage is between the two set points.

Before you write to me and tell me that my lower set point is too low and I am over-discharging
my batteries, consider that the battery voltage isn't normally going to get that low except under
load. If the load were removed, the voltage would recover over time back up to well over 12V.
So the batteries aren't as deeply discharged as you might think at first glance.

Once I had the circuit

working, I mounted it inside
a semi-weatherproof
enclosure. The relay is on
the left side. I used a barrier
strip to make wiring
everything together easier. I
used heavy gage wire for all
the high-current
connections. This thing was
designed to switch up to 40
Amps after all. I also
included a fuse in line with
the solar/wind input line.

Click on the image for a

larger view.

Here is another view with

the lid in place. I used this
enclosure because I
happened to already have it
on hand, not because it is the
best one for the job. For
permanent outdoor use I would prefer to use a more rugged and weather-proof enclosure like I
did for my original charge controller design. However, I like the fact that I can see the LEDs
through the translucent lid and tell which state the charge controller is in at a glance, and I didn't
have to drill any extra holes in the box for the LEDs. This box will work for field testing
purposes.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Here is a side view of the

unit showing the feed-
through barrier strip with all
the connections to the
outside. There are
connections for the positive
side of the battery(s), the
positive input from a solar
panel or wind turbine, the
positive side of an optional
dummy load, and three
ground connections.

When hooking up the charge

controller, the battery should
be connected first. That way
the electronics will have a
stable source of power. If a
solar panel or wind turbine is connected first, the controller is liable to wildly oscillate between
states.

I should explain about dummy loads. The type of wind turbines I build have no real provision for
braking or furling in high winds. It is only the presence of a constant load on them that prevents
them from over-reving in high winds. So when the charge controller senses that the batteries are
fully charged and switches them out of the circuit, it switches in a dummy load (just a big
external bank of high-wattage resistors) to soak up the power output of the wind turbine and
keep it under load. If you are using a commercially made wind turbine with built-in over-rev
protection, or using only solar panels, then the dummy load isn't necessary and you can leave the
dummy line unconnected. You can learn more about dummy loads on my wind turbine page.
 Here is another side view
showing the charge and
dump buttons. The charge
controller will automatically
switch between charge and
dump when the battery
voltage reaches the low and
high set points. Between the
set points the controller will
remain in whichever state it
is in. These buttons allow
me to manually toggle the
charge controller between
the two states.

Here is a photo of the first real field test of the new charge controller design. It seemed to be
working good in my bench tests, but I wanted to make sure it worked right under real-world
conditions. So I set up one of my home-made 60 Watt solar panels outside my workshop and
used it to charge up a deep-cycle battery using the new charge controller. It worked great. The
charge controller let power run into the battery until it was fully charged and then switched to
dumping power so as not to over-charge the battery. Perfect!

Click on the photo for a larger version.

 Here is a closer photo of the
setup. The battery is a 36
AH deep-cycle unit often
used in personal mobility
scooters and motorized
wheel chairs. I find that they
work well in small-scale
wind and solar power
systems. The Volt meter is
showing 12.64 volts on the
battery, which is essentially
fully charged. The battery
was nearly fully charged
when I started this test. It
took only a short time for
the solar panel to top it off
and the charge controller to
switch over to dumping. A
highly successful test.

The only issue I had during the test was seeing which of the LEDs was on in the bright sunlight.
In normal use though the charge controller would be mounted in a sheltered and shady spot out
of the direct sunlight.

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Here is a brief video I shot

during the test run. It
shows how the charge
controller automatically
switches over from
charging to dumping when
the upper set point is
reached.
Multiple solar panels and/or
wind turbines can be
connected to this unit. All
the power sources can be
connected in parallel and fed
into the single input
connection. Each individual
solar panel or wind turbine
needs to have its own
blocking diode though. Here
is a diagram of a typical system with a wind turbine and two solar panels feeding the charge
controller. Typically an AC inverter is included in the system to power AC loads. Click on the
image for a larger version.

People write me and ask why they need a charge controller and batteries? Why not just connect
the solar panel or wind turbine directly to the inverter and be done with it? Well, the answer is
that the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow, but people want power
anytime. The batteries store power when it is available, for use when it is needed.

I may develop a printed circuit board for this project, if time permits and there is sufficient
interest. I'll post further updates on this project as it progresses.

UPDATE
My friend Jason Markham
has created a PC Board
layout for this project almost
as soon as I posted it.

Click the PCB to go to his

web site.

UPDATE
People are writing me and
asking if this charge
controller can be used with
24 Volt systems, and what
changes would be necessary.
The circuit should work fine
for 24 Volt systems. The relay will need to be replaced with one rated for 24V coil voltage, and
the pots will have to be re-calibrated for new high and low set points for the higher battery
voltage. The 7805 voltage regulator is rated for up to 35 Volts input voltage, so no other changes
in the circuit should be necessary.

[Back to Mike's Homepage]    [Email me]

Other places to visit:

[Mike's telescope workshop]    [Mike's home-built jet engine page]

[Mike's Home-Built Solar Panel page]    [Mike's Home-Built Wind Turbine page]    [Mike's gold
prospecting page]
© Copyright 2011 Michael Davis, All rights reserved.