Experimental Development of a PIC-Based Intelligent Energy Management Controller for Voltage Regulation and Load Prioritization in Standalone Photovoltaic Home Systems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59097/jasae.v4i2.88Keywords:
Photovoltaic system, PIC16F877A, Energy management, Load prioritization, Voltage regulation, Electricity load forecasting, Embedded system, Standalone solar systemAbstract
This paper presents the experimental development and evaluation of a PIC16F877A-based intelligent controller for voltage regulation and load prioritization in standalone photovoltaic (PV) home energy systems. The proposed system integrates a photovoltaic panel, battery storage, inverter, and embedded controller into a unified platform for efficient energy management. The controller continuously monitors battery voltage using an analog-to-digital converter and implements a threshold-based control strategy to disconnect non-critical loads when the voltage drops below 11.7 V. Experimental results show that the PV system maintains stable voltage characteristics within approximately ±3%, while the output current varies significantly with solar irradiance, exhibiting fluctuations of more than 60% under varying environmental conditions. The proposed controller effectively regulates system operation by dynamically managing load distribution, thereby preventing deep battery discharge and improving overall system reliability. In addition, the integration of auxiliary subsystems, such as automatic lighting and motion detection, enhances energy efficiency by reducing unnecessary power consumption. The findings demonstrate that the proposed low-cost PIC-based controller provides a practical and effective solution for intelligent energy management in standalone PV systems, particularly in off-grid residential applications.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Rifki Muhida, Ari Legowo, Muhammad Riza, Erry Y. T. Adesta, Riza Muhida
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