Reduced Current Sensor Based Solar PV Fed Motion Sensorless Induction Motor Drive for Water Pumping

This paper proposes a solar photovoltaic (PV) array fed induction motor (IM) drive operated water pumping system with a speed adaptive estimator. It focuses on the implementation of a space vector modulation (SVM) of voltage source inverter (VSI) without current sensors. The motor phase currents are estimated from the dc-link current. The VSI is used for maximum power tracking and to drive an IM. A generalized integrator based flux adaptation approach is used to improve the drive performance. Moreover, a modified model reference adaptive system based speed estimation with rotor fluxes and stationary frame currents enhances its stability throughout the operating range. A modified algorithm based on incremental-conductance is proposed for maximum power point, which is used for peak power tracking at each insolation with a technique to control flow rate. The overall system incorporating a single-stage PV powered SVM based VSI fed IM driven water pump is modeled and its performance is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The appropriateness of proposed system is verified experimentally on a prototype developed in the laboratory under various operating conditions.