Solar Powered Electric Drive-Train With Integrated Multifunctional Dual Power On-Board Charger Incorporating N-phase SRM

Abstract

The article deals with developing a novel solar-powered electric drive-train (SPED) that integrates a multifunctional dual power on-board charger (DP-OBC) incorporating an N-phase switched reluctance motor (SRM). The re-leveraging of the drive-train power electronics and phase windings eliminates the requirement of a separate on-board charging module. The integrated multifunctional DP-OBC can simultaneously utilize two power sources for charging the battery storage system (BESS). When at a standstill, the electric vehicle (EV) BESS can be charged simultaneously via multiple sources, i.e., AC grid plus rooftop solar PV system or DC source plus rooftop solar PV system. Thus, dual power charging ensures a continuous power supply to the battery chargers even when solar energy is unavailable. The proposed SPED during propulsion is reconfigured as an N-phase asymmetrical half-bridge (AHB) configuration simultaneously powered via BESS and rooftop solar PV system, allowing simultaneous driving and charging operation, which increases the driving range. In addition, the proposed SPED employs the same number of power electronics components as in the N-phase AHB configuration, supernumerary reducing the component footprint of the EV charging system. Experiments on a prototype 1.1 kW 4-phase SRM are presented for validating propulsion and different charging modes of the proposed SPED.