Performance evaluation of switched reluctance motor PWM control in pv-fed water pump system

Variable speed drives for PV-fed water pumping system (WPS) in rural areas prove highly promising for economic and social growth. Being more economical without winding and permanent magnets on rotor, switched reluctance motor (SRM) is emerging as an attractive option in variable speed drives. Such a system demands for a suitable controller with simple and reduced components. This paper presents the essence of SRM PWM technique over single pulse mode (SPM) in PV-fed WPS. Performance characteristics such as: torque ripple, phase peak current and DC-link current of the SRM PWM technique tested at various insolation levels are presented in this study. These performance assertions reveal that the PWM technique of SRM outweighs SPM control in PV-fed WPS with reduced torque ripple, reduced peak currents and reduced current gradients. For this study, a 2.2kW 8/6 SRM has been used to build a look-up table based simulation model for SRM in Matlab/Simulink. The system is then implemented using high parallel computing FPGA Spartan 3AN board.