The development process of the off-grid solar home systems was based on three main aspects: (1) PEOPLE – the (energy) needs of the people, (2) INFRASTRUCTURE – the tropical climate and the remote location of the rainforest communities, (3) VISION – a robust, flexible, and sustainable solar system.
To address all three aspects, we have developed a smart off-grid solar home system with products that meet the highest quality standard and are available in Central and South America for easy supply, maintenance, and replacements.
The photovoltaic (PV) cells of the solar panels absorb sunlight and convert the energy from the sun into direct current (DC) electricity to charge the batteries. This DC electricity is fed to the batteries via a solar charge controller, which ensures that the batteries are charged most efficiently and are not damaged.
The charge controller constantly controls and manages the energy flow in the solar electric system. It regulates the state of charge of the batteries and the intensity of the charge. DC appliances such as 12V LED-lights, cellphones or radios are powered directly from the charge controller, which draws energy directly from the PV panels during the day and from the stored energy in the batteries at night.
The inverter converts the low-voltage DC (12V) electricity generated by the solar panels and stored in the batteries to high-voltage alternating current (AC) to power 120V/220V appliances such as electrical power tools, computers, televisions, refrigerators.
The larger solar systems have an additional device called battery protect that protects the batteries from deep discharge and ensures the longevity of the batteries. It acts as a switch that turns off all loads on both the DC and AC sides. The battery protect also communicates with the battery monitor and performs the function according to the information from the battery monitor.
The battery monitor works in conjunction with a measuring device called a shunt, which collects and transmits all data about the system and sends it to the battery monitor. The battery monitor displays the state of charge (SOC) and voltage of the batteries.
When the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries reaches 50%, the battery monitor transmits information to the battery protect to disconnect all loads from the batteries to prevent them from deep discharge and damage. When the SOC reaches 65% again, the battery monitor will inform the battery protect and the loads, both DC and AC, will automatically reconnect to the batteries.