Implementation of a High-Efficiency, High-Lifetime, and Low-Cost Converter for an Autonomous Photovoltaic Water Pumping System

This paper proposes a new converter for photovoltaic (PV) water pumping or treatment systems without the use of chemical storage elements, such as batteries. The converter is designed to drive a three-phase induction motor directly from PV energy. The use of a three-phase induction motor presents a better solution to the commercial dc motor water pumping system. The development is oriented to achieve a more efficient, reliable, maintenance-free, and cheaper solution than the standard ones that use dc motors or low-voltage synchronous motors. The developed system is based on a current-fed multiresonant converter also known as resonant two-inductor boost converter (TIBC) and a full-bridge three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI). The classic topology of the TIBC has features like high voltage gain and low input current ripple. In this paper, it is further improved with the use of a nonisolated recovery snubber along with a hysteresis controller and the use of a constant duty cycle control to improve its efficiency. Experimental results show a peak efficiency of 91% at a rated power of 210 W for the dc/dc converter plus the three-phase VSI and a peak efficiency of 93.64% just for the dc/dc converter. The system is expected to have a high lifetime due to the inexistence of electrolytic capacitors, and the total cost of the converter is below 0.43 U$/Wp. As a result, the system is a promising solution to be used in isolated locations and to deliver water to poor communities.

[1]  Johann W. Kolar,et al.  Using Transformer Parasitics for Resonant Converters—A Review of the Calculation of the Stray Capacitance of Transformers , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

[2]  Bangyin Liu,et al.  Design considerations and topology selection for dc-module-based building integrated photovoltaic system , 2008, 2008 3rd IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications.

[3]  Peter J. Wolfs.  A current-sourced DC-DC converter derived via the duality principle from the half-bridge converter , 1993, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron..

[4]  Ronnie Belmans,et al.  Sensorless control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor for PV-powered water pump systems using the extended Kalman filter , 1999, IEMDC 1999.

[5]  Yi Zhao,et al.  High-Step-Up and High-Efficiency Fuel-Cell Power-Generation System With Active-Clamp Flyback–Forward Converter , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[6]  David Tschanz,et al.  A multi-functional converter for a reduced cost, solar powered, water pump , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics.

[7]  Quan Li,et al.  An analysis of a resonant half bridge dual converter operating in continuous and discontinuous modes , 2002, 2002 IEEE 33rd Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference. Proceedings (Cat. No.02CH37289).

[8]  Cursino Brandão Jacobina,et al.  An Effective Induction Motor Control for Photovoltaic Pumping , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[9]  Bo Yuan,et al.  A high step-up current fed multi-resonant converter with output voltage doubler , 2011, 2011 Twenty-Sixth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC).

[10]  Xu Yang,et al.  Analysis and Design of a High Step-up Current-Fed Multiresonant DC–DC Converter With Low Circulating Energy and Zero-Current Switching for All Active Switches , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[11]  B. Lehman,et al.  Isolated two-inductor boost converter with one magnetic core , 2003, Eighteenth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2003. APEC '03..

[12]  Quan Li,et al.  The Power Loss Optimization of a Current Fed ZVS Two-Inductor Boost Converter With a Resonant Transition Gate Drive , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[13]  I. Barbi,et al.  A new current-fed, isolated PWM DC-DC converter , 1996 .

[14]  Jiann-Fuh Chen,et al.  Study and Implementation of a Current-Fed Full-Bridge Boost DC–DC Converter With Zero-Current Switching for High-Voltage Applications , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

[15]  M.B.R. Correa,et al.  High performance photovoltaic pumping system using induction motor , 2009, 2009 Brazilian Power Electronics Conference.

[16]  Alfio Consoli,et al.  A high voltage gain DC/DC converter for energy harvesting in single module photovoltaic applications , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics.

[17]  Jiann-Fuh Chen,et al.  Buck-type current-fed push-pull converter with ZCS for high voltage applications , 2007, TENCON 2007 - 2007 IEEE Region 10 Conference.

[18]  Y. Jang,et al.  New two-inductor boost converter with auxiliary transformer , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[19]  Piazza Leonardo da Vinci,et al.  Energy comparison of MPPT techniques for PV Systems , 2008 .

[20]  I. Barbi,et al.  A comparison between two current-fed push-pull DC-DC converters-analysis, design and experimentation , 1996, Proceedings of Intelec'96 - International Telecommunications Energy Conference.

[21]  S. R. Bowes,et al.  Suboptimal switching strategies for microprocessor-controlled PWM inverter drives , 1985 .

[22]  Jaehong Kim,et al.  Asymmetric Duty Control of a Dual-Half-Bridge DC/DC Converter for Single-Phase Distributed Generators , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[23]  David Linden,et al.  Handbook of batteries and fuel cells , 1984 .