Modelling and Simulation of Solar Photovoltaic fed

Induction Motor for Water Pumping Application

using Perturb and Observer MPPT Algorithm
Geet Jain, Arun Shankar V.K., Umashankar S
School of Electrical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore, India.
shankarums@gmail.com
Abstract: This work focuses on the photovoltaic
array fed water pumping system utilizing induction
motor with the model developed in Matlab/Simulink.
PV system is designed to avail the solar energy by
means of Photovoltaic cells. It consists of an
arrangement of several components, including solar
panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity.
Maximum Power Point Tracking is a technique used
to maximize power output from the Photovoltaic
module and finally a 3 phase induction motor is
driven through it. In this paper a Photovoltaic array
is used to run a induction motor that drives the
centrifugal pump. The simulink model of the PV
array connected to induction motor where MPPT
technique (perturb and observable) plays an
important role that is developed in MATLAB and the
outputs are observed.
Index Terms- Photovoltaic array, MPPT, Induction
Motor, Centrifugal water pump.

I.

INTRODUCTION

As the non renewable sources are rapidly

decreasing and the demand is increasing
continuously, solar photovoltaic energy is one of
the solution for this problem. The solar
photovoltaic energy which is free and abundant is
highly beneficial and economical to many
industrial applications. Solar photovoltaic fed water
pumping system is one of the most popular
applications of solar energy. As solar cell
efficiency is low, so in order to make our system
much feasible and reliable, Maximum power point
technique (MPPT) is employed to make our SPV
array work efficiently and effectively in different
climatic conditions. Induction motors are generally
placed with pumping system as they are cheap in
cost and due to absence of commutator, slip rings
and brushes, they have lesser maintenance, so
nowadays 3 phase induction motor is widely used
in industries. Solar photovoltaic fed water pumping
system utilizes induction motor with MPPT
technique to maximize the output. This scheme is
beneficial and can be utilized in irrigation, rural
electrification, refrigerators and other small loads.

978-1-4673-9925-8/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE

In this paper, a simulink model of solar photo

voltaic array fed water pumping system using
induction motor is developed for demonstration.
MPPT acts as a source between PV panel and
Induction motor to increase the voltage demand as
per the load. Perturb and observe (P&O) method of
Maximum power point tracking is used. This
technique is advanced in such a way that a
reference voltage and peak voltage of the module
sets correspondingly. SPV based pumping system
is efficient and reliable due to smooth power supply
to the load. The goal of this MPPT is to standardize
the actual output voltage of photovoltaic panel to
the voltage at maximum power point (MPP). Hence
adjust the output power of the panel. If the output
voltage is higher that that of the voltage of MPP,
then power is transferred to the load , otherwise it
is reduced current fed converters are chosen and
widely used in HV application.
II.

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL

The converting solar energy into electricity using

photovoltaic cell is the most valuable way to
produce another alternative form of energy. As
pumping system is the most promising applications
of photovoltaic cells. Hence the batteries absence
does not compromise on the efficiency in power
conversion [1]. The photovoltaic array chosen is a
Sun Power SPR-415E-WHT-D to provide 435V.
The solar PV cell is modelled using the equivalent
circuit as shown in figure 1.
Rs

Id
D

I pv

Rp

Ideal PV cell

Figure 1. Equivalent circuit of Solar cell

250

The mathematical equations that describes the IV characteristics of ideal photovoltaic cell as
follows.

Fig 2. (I-V) Curve ; PVA changes with variation of

Temperature.

q V pv RS I
1
I I pv I 0 exp
N S kTa

Id

(1).
where the net current makes a difference of photo
current and diode current. Rsh is the shunt
resistance which is neglected.
Photovoltaic cells are generally connected in
series, in the module; create an additive voltage and
in parallel to get higher amperage. Modules are
connected in parallel and series to get desired peak
dc current and voltage [4].
Substituting the value of I d

q Vpv RS I Vpv Rs I
1
I I pv I 0 exp
N S kTa
Rp

(2)

Where,

I0

Diode saturation current

Electric charge

RS

PV cell series resistance

Boltzmann's constant

Ideality factor

Actual Temperature

Rp

PV cell parallel resistance

The above given equation is for single diode

model, where ideal factor n is equal to one. If two
diode model is used than this factor ranges between
1 to 2. Generally optimization technique is used to
determine a suitable value for a model where, IL or
Ipv is the light generates current. This parameter
plays a vital role in a Photovoltaic cell. Cell
Illumination gives rise to increase in minority
carrier [5].

Fig 3. (P-V) Curves ; PVA changes with variation of

Temperature (10)

The Matlab result of PV based system is shown

in figure (3) and (4). Increase in temperature of the
cell causes the voltage to shift left and decreasing
in temperature produces opposite effect. Thus, the
P-V curves and I-V curves shows that how a
Photovoltaic responds to different loads, under
different radiation and cell temperature.
III. CONVENTIONAL MPPT ALGORITHM:
A. THE PERTURBATION AND OBSERVATION
METHOD.
The most commonly used maximum power point
tracking algorithm is perturb and observable in
basic implementing form. It also has some
drawbacks like slow response in speed, oscillation
around MPP in steady state operation. Perturb and
observable algorithm is generally based on the
photovoltaic array calculation and the change in
power by sensing the pv current and pv voltage. If
a perturbation leads to increase or decrease in
output power of the photovoltaic, then the
perturbation is generated in the opposite side [11].
As soon as the MPP is reached , the system
oscillates around the Maximum PowerPoint. To
minimize the oscillation, perturbation step size
have to be reduced. As the smaller step size slows
down the maximum power point. This method can
work more when the irradiance and temperature do
not change quickly with respect to time. For
different irradiance values and cell temperature, the
Photovoltaic array would attain different curves.
Each and every curve is having its own maximum
power point.

251

START

Measure V pv ( t ), I pv ( t )

Ppv (t ) Vpv (t )* I pv (t )

dP Ppv (t ) P pv (t 1)
NO
NO

dV 0

YES

dP 0

YES

Yes

dV 0

No

Fig 7. Simulink block diagram of proposed model

D(t ) D(t 1) D

D(t ) D(t 1) D

D(t ) D(t 1) D

D(t ) D(t 1) D

A). IRRADIANCE INPUT FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC

ARRAY
RETURN

Fig 4. Flowchart of perturb and observable method [1]

IV.

Irradiance

PV System modelling

(W / m2 )

Temperature ( D eg

C)

C
Centrifugal pump

V pv

I pv
MPPT
Controller

Induction motor

v/f

Fig. 5 Generalized block diagram of MPPT Technique

The figure 5 given above is the generalized block

diagram. The input current and input voltage from
the PV array is taken to calculate the instantaneous
power Based on MPPT algorithm, the maximum
power point is identified [2].

Solar power is measured through irradiance that

is defined as the rate at which solar energy falls
onto a pv surface. It is subjected to Photovoltaic
array as input signal with the help of signal builder
present in matlab [3]. This input is user friendly
and can be changed at any instant. In three steps
system input signal is provided to Photovoltaic
array . First step is starting irradiance rise till 1000

W / m2 then it remains constant at 1000 W / m2

in second step and at the last step it starts declining
from 1000 W / m

Designed values taken from 1Soltech 1STH-215P Photovoltaic module is given in the table 1.
Table 1. PV Module

36.3V

V
OC voltage, oc

V. MATLAB MODELLING AND SIMULATION.

The Photovoltaic array and other blocks are
embedded blocks, where the array has been
modelled mathematically. These blocks are
beneficial to calculate the maximum power point as
the part of MPPT technique and to show the
characteristics curves at different irradiance levels.

SC current,

7.84 A

I sc

Voltage at MPP,

Vm

29 V

Current at MPP,

Im

7.35 A

Table 2. PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY DESIGN VALUES AT

Voltage at MPP,
Power at MPP,

250 C, 1000 W/ m 2
435 V
Vmp Vpv

Pmp (W )

I mp I pv
Fig 6. Simulink Block diagram of Inverter control.

3.3 KW

Pmp / Vmp

Current at MPP,

Number of series connected

Vmp / Vm

modules,

ns

Number of parallel connected

modules , n p

7.58

= 15

I mp / I m

=2

252

VI.

DESIGN OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

The characteristics of centrifugal pump and the

relation between mechanical speed of motor and
the output power is defined as

PP K P 3

(3)

At Steady state, electromagnetic Torque Te of

Induction motor equilibrates the mechanical torque
of the load coupled through the shaft. The
centrifugal pump is designed using torque- speed
relation as, [8]

TP K P
where K P

(4)
is proportionality constant and is

estimated as,

K = TP / 2 = .001
VII.

INDUCTION
CONTROL

MOTOR

(3)
AND

VIII.

OVERALL SYSTEM DESCRIPTION.

Water pumping system is one of the most

important application of PV systems in rural areas.
To increase the efficiency of this system, it should
start with the photovoltaic cell selection. Optimum
mounting angle and the proper use of maximum
power point tracking where necessary where to
capture more sun light efficiently and effectively. It
also needs efficient PV inverter system with
efficient MPP tracking features.
IX.

SIMULATION RESULTS

The MPPT design in Simulink is shown in fig. 4.

The PV module is modelled to provide output
current and output voltage. The irradiation level is
altering between two levels as already discussed in
section 5.1. The change in Photovoltaic output
voltage current and power change in irradiance as
shown in Fig.2 and 3.

V/F

As the 3 phase induction motor is widely used in

industries because of robust construction, good
speed regulation and high power factor. here, the
speed control of induction motor is controlled by
v/f control technique. The advantage of taking v/f
technique is that it improves both static as well as
dynamic characteristics of a machine.
With this, the reduction in speed of about 25%
can be improved and the energy saving is upto 50%
in centrifugal pump [11].

Fig. 9 Changing irradiance with Time

The base speed is directly proportional to the

supply frequency and number of poles .since
number of poles in a machine is fixed, the best
thing to control the sped of induction motor is to
vary the supply frequency. The torque developed is
directly proportional to the voltage applied and the
supply frequency. the torque is maintained constant
by changing the applied voltage and supply
frequency .
Fig. 10 Waveform shows stator current vs time

Fig. 8 Torque produced by the induction motor.

253

Fig 11. Speed Vs Time graph of Induction motor.

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Fig 12. Output Parameters from centrifugal pump with respect

to time [9]

The curve shows the variation from the

centrifugal pump related to Valve opening ,Flow
rate, and pressure with respect to time.
X.

CONCLUSION

The proposed Solar Photovoltaic array fed water

pumping system is explained in different operating
conditions. The estimation of speed and torque
command for v/f controlled induction motor is
been demonstrated though Matlab results. The
inverter performs both as a power converter and
forces the induction motor to operate at highest
possible efficiency. It can be concluded that system
is operating at maximum efficiency when driven
with PV array. The advantage of this system is that
it reduces the number of semiconductor switches as
there is no DC/DC converters are involved.
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