Design and Implementation of a Portable PWM Solar Charge Controller for an Intelligent LED Lighting System in Peruvian Pitahaya Crops

Promoting agriculture in Peru is important, as it represents one of the main activities generating employment for small-scale farmers, particularly through crops such as pitahaya (dragon fruit), due to its high agricultural potential. However, from May onwards, pitahaya production in Peru becomes limited due to insufficient natural light. In this context, the use of modern technologies, such as intelligent LED lighting systems, allows increasing pitahaya production during the off-season by complementing inadequate natural illumination with additional artificial lighting. However, the lighting system requires a continuous power supply, which is not available in plantation areas of rural farms, where access to electrical outlets is limited or nonexistent. For this reason, photovoltaic (PV) systems are essential for providing uninterrupted electrical energy from a clean and renewable source such as solar power, as they contribute to environmental sustainability, reduce operational costs, and are particularly well suited for remote agricultural environments. Accordingly, this project focuses on the design and implementation of a PWM-type solar charge controller, which is fundamental for the proper management of battery charging and discharging processes, ensuring system protection and increased autonomy. The controller performance is experimentally assessed under daytime and nighttime operation through the programmed automatic activation of a red LED lamp as a representative load, achieving a conversion efficiency of 93.83% and an autonomy time of 54.88 h.