2014 IEEE Students’ Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Science
978-1-4799-2526-1/14/$31.00©2014 IEEE
Solar PV Stand-Alone Water Pumping System
Employing PMSM Drive
Menka Dubey, Shailendra Sharma, Member IEEE and Rakesh Saxena
Electrical Engineering Department
Shri G.S. Institute of Technology & Science
23 Park Road, Indore-452003, India
menkadubey@gmail.com, ssharma.iitd@gmail.com, rakeshsaxena@hotmail.com
Abstract - This paper deals with the stand alone solar PV
(Photo Voltaic) supplied PMSM (Permanent Magnet
Synchronous Motor) drive for water pumping system. An
interlink Boost converter is used between solar PV panel and DC
bus of PMSM drive. The DC bus voltage of PMSM drive is
maintained constant by controlling the duty cycle of boost
converter. Three phase VSI (Voltage Source Inverter) is
controlled to supply PMSM under change in solar irradiation to
regulate discharge of water. Solar PV stand–alone water
pumping system employing PMSM drive is modelled in
MATLAB/SIMULINK environment using the sim power system
toolboxes. The performance of the proposed system is obtained
under wide variation in PMSM speed with change in solar
irradiation.
Keywords- DC to DC boost converter; PMSM drive; photo
voltaic; vector control; water pumping system
I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy penetrations are increased in power
sector to reduce dependency on fossil fuels [1]. Solar PV
(Photo-Voltaic) systems are now well recognized for trapping
solar energy. Solar energy has the greatest availability
compared to other energy sources. It has been estimated that
the amount of energy supplied to the earth in one day is
sufficient to cater energy needs of the earth of one year [2].
For such solar PV systems, maximum power point tracking
control is preferred for efficient operation [3]-[5]. Matsui et. al
have presented a MPPT control system for solar PV system by
utilizing steady state power balancing condition at DC link
[6]. It has further improved by Mikihiko for sensorless
application [7]. Integration of PV system with the grid fulfil
standard power quality requirements and it have been reported
in [8]-[10].
The solar PV system has found many potential
applications such as residential, vehicular, space air craft and
water pumping system [11]. PV water-pumping is highly
competitive compared to traditional energy technologies and
best suited for remote site applications that have small to
moderate power requirements. Most of the existing
photovoltaic irrigation systems offer a mechanical output
power from 0.85 kW up to 2.2 kW. The efficiency of
Induction motors are less compared to permanent magnet
motors, whereas DC machines are not suitable for submersible
installations [12].
In recent years, the use of PMSM (Permanent Magnet
Synchronous Motors) are increased for drives applications due
to its high efficiency, large torque to weight ratio, longer life
and recent development in permanent magnet technologies
[13]-[15]. It need power processor for effective control [16].
PMSM become a serious challenger of induction motors in
hybrid electric vehicle applications [17]-[18].
This paper presents a stand alone solar PV supplied PMSM
drive for water pumping system. Pumping water is a universal
need for agriculture and the use of PV panels is a natural
choice for such applications. In the proposed system, duty
cycle of boost converter is controlled to maintain the DC link
voltage at required level. The speed of a PMSM drive is a
function of solar irradiation. Three phase VSI (Voltage Source
Inverter) is controlled to supply PMSM under change in
irradiation in vector oriented mode.
II. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND PRINCIPLE
OF OPERATION
Fig.1 shows schematic diagram for the stand-alone solar
PV based PMSM drive for water pumping system. The
proposed system consists of solar PV panel, a boost converter,
a three phase VSI (Voltage Source Inverter)and a PMSM
coupled with a centrifugal water pump.
A PV or solar cell is the basic building block of a PV
system. An individual PV cell is usually quite small, typically
producing about 1 or 2W of power. To increase the power
output of PV cells, these cells are connected in series and
parallel to assemble larger unit called PV module. The PV
array is connected to the DC to DC boost converter to increase
the output voltage level. An IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar
Transistor) based VSI is used for DC to AC conversion and
connected to the PMSM drive. The constant DC voltage is
converted to the AC output using a VSI. Reference speed of
PMSM is a function of solar irradiation.
III. DESIGN OF PV BASED PMSM DRIVE
The design of a PV based PMSM drive consists of PV
array, a DC to DC converter, a DC link capacitor and a VSI.
Ratings of selected parameters are given in Appendix. The
designs of various components of drive system are as follows,