Abstract
The sizing of the off-grid PV systems is currently based on a manual approach, i.e. daily load is estimated by identifying commonly used load appliances for modelling system performance. If the system is not properly sized, it may not function according to expectation. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual design of an off-grid (autonomous) photovoltaic (PV) power plant, fitted with an efficient power regulating (EPR) management system of solar batteries and an instinctive solar tracking of PV panels. An optimization model for an Efficient Power Regulating (EPR) system of solar batteries was coupled to a solar tracking device so that the PV panels were constantly in full view of the sun. The objective function of the model was to maximize the efficiency of PV cells through PV battery charge regulation and load control in off-grid PV installations. This study revealed that the effectiveness of the EPR of solar battery (SB) when totally discharged can be realized when the accumulating battery (AB) charge reaches 50%.The study findings were indicative of the effectiveness of the EPR of SB. Hence, the EPR technique and the automatic tracking of PV solar panels proved to be the most effective technique of optimizing the energy efficiency of autonomous PV power plants.