Solar Powered SR Motor Based Water Pumping Using Dual Output Boost Converter

This paper proposes the SPG (Solar Photovoltaic Generator) fed dual output boost converter utilized for water pumping employing a switched reluctance (SR) motor. The dual output boost converter is used here to provide the balanced voltages to a mid-point converter which is used as a power converter for SRM drive. The control algorithm eliminates the start-up problem associated with a mid-point converter based SRM drive. An optimal selection of a perturbation size (Delta D) with an appropriate initial duty ratio (D) in MPPT control offers the soft starting of SR motor. The dual output boost converter operated in continuous conduction inductor current (CCIC) mode, is not only facilitating the limitless area for perturb and observation (P&O) MPPT algorithm but it also provides a reduced stress on converter components. The speed control of SRM drive is performed by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control of the mid-point converter. It facilitates the elimination of current sensing elements and extra control needed for speed control of SRM drive. The characteristics of proposed system at different environmental conditions are evaluated using MATLAB/Simulink platform to validate its suitability.