Behavioral Analysis of a Lithium Ion Battery (Li-Ion), a Nickel Metal Hydride Battery (Ni-MH) and a Supercapacitor in an Isolated Photovoltaic Solar System

Abstract

This paper presents experimental research about the behavior of different storage devices such as Li-ion, Ni-MH batteries and supercapacitors when charged by a solar photovoltaic system. Photovoltaic systems work as a variable current source, depending on the solar irradiance. These devices present a different profile charge compared to a constant and controlled charge generated by a traditional charger. For this work, several charging and discharging cycles of batteries and supercapacitors under the same environmental conditions were carried out in order to observe the different characteristics of each technology, and some harmful effects on the storage devices operation such as the memory effect and partial discharges involved in the proper functioning of the solar photovoltaic system.