This design was created to be a cost effective and user friendly solution to individual solar power. One of the objectives that we set out to accomplish with our design was semi-portability. By being somewhat portable, this device can be moved to maximize optimal sunlight and decrease the time to charge. This project is designed around the functionality of the Adafruit METRO M0 Express along with the custom battery enclosure, the battery management system, the LCD Display, the custom charge controller, and the lithium iron phosphate battery cells. Lithium iron phosphate was chosen as the chemical make-up of the battery due to its safety to the average consumer compared to other chemical compositions like lead acid, nickel cadmium, and nickel metal hydride. In specific, lithium iron phosphate runs a near zero percent chance of thermal runaway. Thermal runaway is the process of increased energy causing an increase in heat, which will loop until the battery melts down or explodes. While this project has been created before in various forms, what sets this design apart is user friendliness of the solar charge controller with the LCD touchscreen and the semi-portability of the device.

In the figure below, you will see the block diagram of the design for group 9.

Figure 1: Block Diagram

In the diagram above, the connections between components for the HCBSPS is shown. The microcontroller is connected to the battery directly via a buck to buck converter. Which in turn is connected directly to the lithium iron phosphate battery cells. These cells supply power to the switch, the buck to buck converter, the BMS, and the custom solar charge controller.

The custom solar charge controller also receives power from the solar panel, while it supplies information directly to the microcontroller. This microcontroller, the Adafruit METRO M0 Express, will then supploy power the the LCD Display and the Temperature sensor. These two components will then communicate with the MCU and bidirectionally move data between them.

On the bottom section of the block diagram you will find the remaining connections from the lithium iron phosphate cells. Specifically the connection of the switch and battery management system that receive their power from the battery cells. While both supply power to the inverter under different circumstances. The inverter then supplies power to the outlets where varying decices can be connected.

The document below contains the divide and conquer paper for group 9.

The document below contains the Senior Design 1 paper for group 9.

The slides for the critical design review are seen below:

Video 1: Critical Design Review

In the video below, group 9 demonstrates their design in action. This specific demonstration is the midterm demonstration.

Video 2: Midterm Demonstration

The document below contains the conference paper for group 9.

The slides for the final presentation are seen below:

In the video below, group 9 demonstrates the final presentation for their project.

Video 4: Final Demonstration

The document below contains the final documentation paper for group 9.