CHAPTER 3

PROJECT METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter will cover the details explanation of methodology that is being used to make this
project complete and working well. Many methodology or findings from this field mainly
generated into journal for others to take advantages and improve as upcoming studies. The
method is use to achieve the objective of the project that will accomplish a perfect result.
3.2 Implementation Flow Chart

Project List

Choose The Project

Gathering
Information
Analysis and
Research
Designing and
Planning
Project
Implementation
Circuit Analysis
related
Component
Installation

Test Circuit

Combined and
Testing
Final Presentation

Final Project
Report

3.3 Planning of the project

3.3.1 List of measures work
The systems development life cycle (SDLC) describes a set of steps that produces a
Solar Powered Automatic Street Light Controller (Badie N. Farah.2004). The SDLC is a
problem-solving process. Each step in the process delineates a number of activities.
Performing these activities in the order prescribed by the SDLC will bring about a
solution for a problem. The SDLC process consists of the following phases:

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.

I.

Investigation process
Generating process
Synthesis process
Implementation process
Analysis process

Investigation process

The first phase of the systems development life cycle is preliminary

investigation. Due to limited resources an organization can undertake only those
projects that are critical to its mission, goals, and objectives. Therefore, the goal of
preliminary investigation is simply to identify and select a project for development
from among all the projects that are under consideration.
The preliminary-investigation phase sets the stage for gathering information
about the current problem and the existing information system. This information is
then used in studying the feasibility of possible information systems solutions.

II.

Generate process

Generate is the second step after the investigation. Generate is an idea to produce
a sketch before starting the project. Each given ideas we have reviewed the consent of
all members of the group to get good results. Therefore cooperation between
members of the group is very important for the success of product quality and
desired.
Prior to this project, sketches made in order to facilitate our work. In this project I
have divided the work into 2 section which is mechanical section and
electrical/electronic section, to complete this very important project with the work
schedule so that what I have planned was going on well and it did prevent from
problems to arise.

MECHANICAL DIVISION

Cutting the hard plastic

Cutting plastic box
Punch holes in plastic box
Cutting the polystyrene to make prototype (High way)

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS DIVISION

III.

Install components on the circuit board

Install the power supply
Install LDR sensors
Small wiring for connection into 2 circuit board
Soldering the components

Synthesis process

Synthesis process is the step in design where the person select component parts
and how to interconnecting them to create his flowsheet (Naonori Nishida, 1981).
A systematic framework for a process synthesis based on 2 way
communication between lecturer and student or groupmates.
In this process, I made a schematic diagram of battery charger circuit and
sensor circuit by using NI Multisim software. Then I also draw another simple
sketches from that schematic diagram to identify the component placement and
also wire connection between those components.

IV.

Implementing process

After did the schematic diagram using NI Multisim software, the process of produce
project board circuit (PCB) was followed.
Components
The components for this project are based on the circuit diagram where all
the components related have been ready at one of electronic component shop at
Senawang, Negeri Sembilan. The costing for the components as stated at the
buying receipt and can see at Appendix.

Construction

Checking
After the parts of mounting the components at PCB finished, I need to
check the continuity track of the circuit. This part of job is to ensure that the
operation of this circuit will run smoothly. The tools related with the checking
parts is multimeter and the continuity checking involve with every circuit tracks
and the point of soldering. By using the buzzer multimeter, its will alert the failed
continuity. The failed continuity will recover with the solder again the lake of
components related.
Testing
The procedure of testing is beginning with charger circuit connected with
12V power supply. Turn on the power supply and check whether the LED ON of
not to make sure charger circuit is working.

V.

Analysis process
The analysis stage is the final stage in this methodology where the two points will be
done. The analysis is based on the performance of the circuit related where the output
must be performed well and successful and the second is identifying the conclusion.

Analysed the circuit

The circuit of Solar Powered Automatic Street Light Controller is a combination of
a small electronic circuit, where in the working of small electronic circuit will
perform the good result of automatically switched ON and OFF the street light. In
this Solar Powered Automatic Street Light Controller, I have defined that the small
electronic circuits, which stated as below:

Solar Battery Charger Circuit

This is the most simple and affordable solar battery charger that the hobbyist can
make. It has a few drawbacks over other similar controls, but offers numerous
advantages. It is intended for charging lead-acid batteries, but may also be used for
charging any battery at a constant voltage. Voltage output is adjustable.

Solar Battery Charger Circuit Principle

Solar battery charger operated on the principle that the charge control circuit will
produce the constant voltage. The charging current passes to LM317 voltage
regulator through the diode D1. The output voltage and current are regulated by
adjusting the adjust pin of LM317 voltage regulator. Battery is charged using the
same current.
Solar battery charger circuit diagram

Figure 3. : Schematic diagram of Solar Battery Charger Circuit

Advantages & Disadvantages of this solar charger

+ Simple, small & inexpensive

+ Uses commonly available components

+ Adjustable voltage

+ ZERO battery discharge when sun is not shining

Solar battery charger specifications

Solar panel rating: 20W (12V) or 10W (6V)

Output voltage range: 5 to 14V (adjustable) (may be reduced further by

shorting R2)

Typical dropout voltage: 2 to 2.75V (depending upon load current)

Maximum current: 1.5A (internally limits at about 2.2A)

Voltage regulation: 100mV (due to regulation of series rectifier)

Battery discharge: 0mA (this control will not discharge the battery when the
sun doesnt shine)

Solar Battery Charger Circuit Design

Circuit must have adjustable voltage regulator, so Variable voltage regulator LM317 is
selected. Here LM317 can produce a voltage from 1.25 to 37 volts maximum and
maximum current of 1.5 Amps.
Adjustable Voltage regulator has typical voltage drop of 2 V-2.5V .So Solar panel is
selected such that it has more voltage than the load. Here I am selecting 17v/5w solar
panel.
Lead acid battery which is used here has specification of 12v/1.3Ah. In order to charge
this battery following are required.
Zener diode is used to protect the LM317 and panel from reverse voltage generated by
the battery when it is not charging because it will blocks the current through it up to a
certain voltage when reverse biased.. Any 3 A diode can be used here.
For Charging 12V Battery
Output voltage

Set the output voltage to 14.5 volts (This voltage is specified on the battery as cycle
use.)

Charging current

Charging current = Solar panel wattage/Solar Panel Voltage = 5 / 17 = 0.29A.

Here LM317 can provide current upto 1.5A .So it is recommended to use high
wattage panels if more current is required for your application. (But here my

battery requires initial current less than 0.39Amps. This initial current is also
mentioned on the battery).

If the battery requires initial current more than 1.5A, it is not recommended to use
LM317.

Time taken for charging

Time taken for charging = 1.3Ah/0.29A = 4.44hours.

Power dissipation

Here solar panel has 5Watts

Power going into battery = 14.5*0.29 =4 watts
Thus 1 watt of power going into regulator.

Minimum Head Voltage

This is also referred to drop-out voltage. The input voltage must exceed the
output voltage by about 2.75V @ 1.5A. Fortunately, when the battery discharged,
the output voltage is lower so the solar panel voltage will also be lower.
When fully charged, the battery voltage will be high, but the current is very low
at this point, the drop-out voltage reduces to about 2V and the open circuit solar
panel voltage also comes into play. The Zener diode was selected to reduce this
head voltage requirement (Jim Keith, 2015).
Zener diode will blocks the current through it up to a certain voltage when reverse
biased. Beyond this reverse breakdown voltage, it allows the current to flow even
when biased in the reverse. That makes this type of diode very useful for

generating reference voltages, clamping signals to specific voltage levels or

ranges and more generally acting as a voltage regulator.
Zener diodes are manufactured to have their reverse breakdown voltage occur at
specific, well-defined voltage levels. They are also able to operate continuously in
the breakdown mode, without damage. Commonly, Zener diodes are available
with breakdown voltage between 1.8 to 200 Volts (Andi, 2016).

Current Limiting
Current limiting is provided by the solar panelit is not a commonly understood
fact that the solar panel tends to be a constant current device. For this reason, a
solar panel can withstand a short circuit.
Therefore, the control does not need current limiting.

The way to operate Solar Battery Charger

1.
2.
3.
4.

Give the connections according to the circuit diagram.

Place the solar panel in sunlight.
Now set the output voltage by adjusting pot RV1
Check the battery voltage using digital multi meter.

LDR Sensor Circuit

Nowadays, lightening-up of highways is done through HID lamps but, the energy
consumption of these lights is high as well as there is no particular mechanism to turn
on/off the lights from sunrise to sunset. To overcome this problem, here is an alternative
method using LEDs i.e. power conserving of intensity controlled street lights using LDR.

An LDR or Light Dependent Resistor is a resistor where the resistance decreases with
the strength of the light.
Light Dependent Resistors
Light Dependent Resistors (LDR) are also called photoresistors. They are made of
high resistance semiconductor material. When light hits the device, the photons give
electrons energy. This makes them jump into the conductive band and thereby conduct
electricity.

Light Dependent Resistor Circuit

The circuit of LDR is an electronic circuit built with LDR, relay, Darlington pair,
diode, & resistors shown in the below circuit diagram. Figure shows the schematic
diagram of LDR sensor circuit.

The circuit diagram present here is that of a street light that automatically switches ON
when the night falls and turns OFF when the sun rises. The circuit uses a Light
Dependent Resistor (LDR) to sense the light. When there is light, the resistance of LDR
will be low. So the voltage drop across R3 will be high. This keeps the transistor QI ON.

The collector of Q1 is coupled to base ofQ2. So Q2 will be OFF and so do the relay. The
bulb will remain OFF. When night falls the resistance of LDR increases to make the
voltage across the R3 to decrease below 0.6V. This makes transistor Q1 OFF which in
turn makes Q2 ON. The relay will be energized and the bulb will glow.
In addition, in the morning time, this sensor has a low resistance around 100. Thus, the
power supply flows through the LDR & ground through the variable resistor and resistor
as shown in the above light sensor circuit. This is due to the resistance offered by the
light dependent resistor in the daytime or when the light falls on the LDR, then it is less
compared to the resistance of the remaining part of the sensor circuit. We are alert of the
principle of current, that the flow of current always flow in the path of low resistance.
Therefore, the relay coil does not get sufficient supplies to get strengthened. Hence, the
light is switched off in the daylight. In the same way, during the night time, the resistance
of the LDR increases to a high value (20M). Thus, due to the high resistance of the
resistor, the flow of current is low or almost zero. Now, the flow of current through the
low-resistance lane such that it increases the base voltage of Darlington pair to reach
more than 1.4v. As the Darlington pair transistor is triggered, the relay coil acquires
enough supply to get energized, and hence, the light switches in the night time (Tarun
Agaruvali, 2014).

Applications of LDR

Light dependent resistors are simple and low cost devices. These devices are used
where there is a need to sense the presence and absence of light is necessary. These
resistors are used as light sensors and the applications of LDR mainly include alarm
locks, street lights, light intensity meters, burglar alarm circuits. For better understanding
of this concept, here we have explained this project namely; Solar powered automatic
street light controller using LDR.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, every project will have different methodologies that is being used to
make the project successful and working well. Generally, the methodologies are divided into
three parts, there are planning, implementing and analysis. In planning phase there are including
with reading activity and some job of requirements of hardware and software to be used.
In reading activity I do research through several sources such as text books, journal,
paper references, the Internet and more sources due to get the information about the project
related. While in the requirements of hardware and software to be use I was study and find out
the functional and operational of the hardware and software related.
Next step is implementing phase where in this part I did the appointment with third party
because need help for component placement process. When the PCB was ready to mount the
electronic components, the process of construction circuit is followed. The process of checking
and testing are followed due to complete a part of implementing.

Finally, in analysis phase, the project was come out with the operations of solar powered
automatic street light controller system circuit. It was looking at the combination of battery
charger circuit and LDR sensor circuit. The functions and the operations of the circuits related
are very important to be analyzed. With appropriate steps and methodology, any process of
completing the project can be managed wisely and will be make a good result.