A single stage solar PV array based water pumping system using SRM drive

The present paper describes the solution for cost effective and efficient single stage photovoltaic (PV) generator powered water pumping using a Switched Reluctance motor (SRM). An optimal selection of a perturbation size (ΔD) and an initial duty ratio (D) in incremental conductance (IC) MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) algorithm facilitate soft starting to SRM by building up the voltage across split capacitors of a SRM converter with a reduced rate. The speed of SRM drive is controlled by output maximum power point (MPP) current of PV array. This avoids the current and voltage sensors on motor side. The proposed single stage system is operated under pulse width modulation (PWM) switching of a mid-point converter and gives privileged to reduce the bulky DC link split capacitors with small capacitors. A turn- off angle dependent control algorithm to self start a proposed SRM drive is also introduced in present system. Moreover, the present paper also discussed the details of system design and analysis of its performance under varying environmental conditions. The suitability of proposed system is validated using MATLAB simulation and test results on a hardware prototype.