Grid Interactive Single-Stage Solar Powered Water Pumping System Utilizing Improved Control Technique

This paper proposes a single-stage grid interactive solar powered switched reluctance motor (SRM) driven water pumping system with an efficient control technique. The control of the proposed system provides the proficient maximum power point technique (MPPT) tracking and motor drive control with bidirectional power flow between the photovoltaic (PV) array and single-phase grid. It has harmonics components elimination, improved dynamic performance, and a dc offset rejection capability compared to other control. A PV feed-forward term is also incorporated in developed control to enhance the dynamic performance of the system and to minimize the size of dc link capacitor with improved MPPT performance. The novel scheme of fundamental switching of SRM drive over its maximum operational time (when the grid is present) makes system efficient and reliable. An improved perturb and observe based MPPT algorithm is used in this system to minimize the undesirable losses in a PV array especially under varying insolation levels. The proposed control is tested on a developed prototype and its suitability is authenticated through simulated and test results under various conditions.