PV System to Supply Lighting and Small Electronic Equipments of an off-Grid Rural School

This paper presents the development of a photovolta ic (PV) system to supply electric energy to a typical rural school in the countryside of Pia ui, Brazil. The system is designed to supply a rural school for up to two days, even under minimum solar radiation condition. The solar energy is captured by PV panels and stored in lead acid batteries. A boost converter (the battery charger) allows the system to operate the P V panels at the maximum power point (MPP). The load is supplied through another boost c onverter (24 Vcc to 311 Vcc) and the entire system is controlled by a microcontroller, w hich runs the MPP algorithm, monitors the charge state of the batteries and controls the oper ation of the DC/DC boost converter according to the load demand.