Battery Management for Small Hydroponic Systems and Cultivation Experiments

Abstract

A small hydroponic system that can use sustainable energy such as solar power has been developed. However, the amount of power generated is not constant, and in the case of unstable weather, enough power cannot be obtained. Therefore, it is necessary to store the generated energy in a battery. In order to design low-cost charging equipment, it is necessary to use a smaller battery and to estimate the remaining charge capacity (state of charge: SOC) accurately. To provide an accurate SOC estimation for such systems, a fusion of CI (current integral) and OCV (open circuit voltage) methods is proposed. When using this method, it is necessary to frequently disconnect the electronic load. In these experiments, the optimum disconnection duration, the effects on plants of frequent battery disconnection, and cutting off of the lighting were investigated.