Abstract

This paper presents a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validated design and implementation of a buck converter-based battery charger for a solar-powered golf car. The system utilizes an ESP32 microcontroller to execute a unified control function that seamlessly integrates Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) via the Incremental Conductance algorithm with Constant-Current/Constant-Voltage (CC/CV) battery charging. A key contribution is the use of the Typhoon HIL 402 platform for high-fidelity, real-time simulation, which enabled the validation of control strategies and firmware before physical prototyping. This approach significantly reduced development time and risk. The simulation results demonstrated a high MPPT efficiency of >98.5 % and a smooth CC-CV transition. The subsequent physical prototype confirmed these results, achieving a measured MPPT efficiency of 97.8 % and a peak converter efficiency of 93.7 %, closely aligning with the simulation predictions. The study conclusively demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy and the value of a HIL-centric development flow for power electronics systems.