FIGURE 15

- Solder flux is a substance which helps in cleaning and creates a solid connection between electronics
components or wires. This occurs by cleansing the surface to remove contaminants and keep them from
interfering with the binding between the surface and the solder (Ekaran, 2023).

https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-and-how-to-use-solder-flux/

FIGURE 17
- A charge controller regulates the rate at which electric current is supplied to or removed from electric
batteries to prevent overcharging, overheating, and electrical overload (Wikipedia contributors, 2023).
Which the XH-M604 charge control module functions as a relay, allowing or disallowing battery charging
based on the preset parameters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_controller

FIGURE 18
- A solar panel is a component of a photovoltaic system, which made up of a series of photovoltaic cells
arranged to convert the energy from the sun, which is made up of tiny particles known as "photons,"
into electricity that may be used to power various electrical loads (What Is a Solar Panel? How Does a
Solar Panel Work?, n.d.-b).

https://www.mrsolar.com/what-is-a-solar-panel/
Materials utilized in the construction to facilitate electricity flow.

A solar charge controller is a device that manages the charging of a battery from a solar panel.

According to (Bruce, 2022) for batteries to be charged effectively and securely, a solar charge controller

is necessary. If the battery is directly connected to the solar panel it will continue to charge resulting to

damage the internal of batteries. The solar charge controller primary roles is to protect the batteries

from overcharging by ensuring that the battery receives enough power to charge it, but not too much

that the voltage rises relatively high, and also by blocking the reverse current during at night, this helps

to keep batteries from being discharge unnecessarily and it increase the battery uptime. Additionally, a

charge controller supports battery status monitoring, controls the amount of charge entering and

leaving the battery, and manages the battery's optimal and most effective performance (De Rooij,

2015).

According to (Pawliw, 2020) and (LokeshReddy et.al, 2017) the most used types of solar charge

controllers are the series, shunt, PWM and MPPT charge controllers. Between the Solar panel and the

battery, the series controller uses a particular type of control component. Because shunt controllers

currently have some limitations, this sort of charge controller is frequently employed in small-scale

Photovoltaic systems but may also be utilized for bigger systems. Shunt controllers are the simplest,

but also the crudest and least efficient, battery charging controllers since a shunt controller is merely

an ON/OFF switch. So, when battery voltage is low, the switch is activated, and energy is transferred

from the solar array to the battery (i.e., requires a charge). When the battery voltage reaches a certain

level, the switch turns off and charging ceases (i.e., charged). (ZHCSOLAR, 2020) expounded that the

MPPT monitors the solar panel output voltage and current in real-time and continually records the

maximum power (P=U*I), regulating the output voltage accordingly so that the system may always

charge the battery with the maximum power.

 For the prototyping of this study the researcher will use MPPT Controller because for optimal

functioning, batteries have certain charging needs. Solar modules have distinct electrical properties

that vary throughout the day. So, the MPPT controller is ideal for it because it allow the solar array to

work at optimum efficiency while also giving optimal charging to the battery to achieve maximum

efficiency and effectiveness in charging. In addition, MPPT controllers frequently offer improved

programmability and features like data logging, which may be very helpful for troubleshooting (Pawliw,

2020).

Michelle (2020) suggests that the ideal set points for charge controlling depend on the design of

the battery. The lead-acid batteries are good candidates for electricity storage in renewable energy

applications because they are inexpensive and widely available. They have been used in a variety of off-

grid and stand-alone power systems for decades and are the most offered option for solar energy

storage systems (Solar Choices Staff, 2015). However, in this study lithium-ion batteries are the best

option for a solar panel system than lead-acid battery due to their reduced weight and greater

compactness than lead acid batteries. In addition, they have a longer lifespan than lead acid batteries

and a depth of discharge (DoD) of about 90% and battery efficiency of 100% when compared to a lead-

acid battery that have a DoD of 50% and the battery efficiency of 85%. The amount of energy you can

consume (in relation to the battery's overall capacity) is determined by the depth of discharge.

However, lithium-ion batteries are more expensive than their lead acid counterparts (Voss, 2020).

According to (Linda, 2021) high-performance lithium batteries have a few advantages over

conventional batteries. However, they do have a flaw: manufacturers are unable to guarantee

production uniformity amongst lithium cells. Each Lithium cell has differences in rated capacity, internal

resistance, and self-discharge. The battery's cells are out of balance because of these differences,

regardless of how small. Depending on the use conditions and age of the lithium battery, this
imbalance can result in a 3% to 6% variation between the cells. Therefore, a specialized lithium battery

management system (BMS) is required to monitor, protect, balance, and fault alarm the lithium battery

pack in order to maximize the lithium battery's overall effectiveness and service life (Benzo

Energy ,2019).

To power the IoT, voltage regulator is needed to manipulate the current and voltage to function

it correctly. A website entitled “(Voltage Regulator)” published by Circuits Today in 2018, expounded

that the voltage regulator is intended to 'regulate' voltage level automatically. It essentially lowers

down the input voltage to the required level and maintains that level throughout the supply. This

ensures that the voltage does not decrease when a load is added, also to maintain the range of the

voltage that is compatible with the other electrical components.

In this study the researchers used the LM317 voltage regulator, also known as a buck converter,

step down power supply, or DC-DC linear regulator for the prototype because, the researchers can

select any value below the power supply capacity. The LM317 buck converter is relatively simple to use

and is ideal for IoT and ESP32 since it only must be connected to a power supply.

The Internet of things with ESP32

The ESP32, which has built-in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capability, is one of the most popular

Wi-Fi based microcontroller modules used for portable IoT applications, according to (Gupta, 2021)

making it a suitable option for portable applications as in iBeacon devices, GPS Tracker, etc.

Additionally, it is a strong controller with capability for dual core programming. The inclusion of WiFi

and Bluetooth stacks into ESP32 for data transfer has been a game-changer. The presence of WiFi stack

on the module itself means you will have saved money on an additional networking module this means

that there’s no need for other module such as GSM or LTE module to test the cloud communication
because both access point and station modes of WiFi are supported by ESP32. TCP/IP, HTTP, MQTT, and

other conventional communication protocols are supported, as well as HTTPS. However, using ESP32

for tracking application where it keeps moving around, it might rely on GSM or LTE module because

there’s no guaranteed WiFi availability. According to (gojimmypi, 2022) ESP32 is equipped with

hardware accelerators, or the crypto−core also known as crypto-accelerator. This hardware

accelerators greatly improve the encryption process. Which also support code encryption and dynamic

decryption, which ensures that the code in the flash will not be hacked which according to a webpage

author (LimitedResults, 2019) crypto-core is a dedicated piece of hardware of the System-on-Chip. Its

primary duties include managing keys and "accelerating" cryptographic primitives. So, this means that

ESP32 is ideal for applications that required a secure communication (HTTPS) when dealing with

sensitive information and it also has advantageous over other microcontrollers that don’t support

encryption.