Low-Cost Hardware Implementation of a Maximum Power Point Tracking and a Scalar Control for Standalone Photovoltaic Water Pumping System

Abstract

This paper introduces a real-time FPGA-based implementation of V/f scalar control for an Induction Motor (IM) powering a Water Pumping System (WPS) with a Photovoltaic System (PVS) as its power source. Firstly, we propose the utilization of the V/f scalar control method, owing to its straightforwardness and the ability to operate without the need for current, voltage, or speed sensors. This approach significantly diminishes both the system's cost and enhances its overall reliability. Moreover, the photovoltaic (PV) array is linked to a boost converter to optimize the power generation by searching the Maximum Power Point (MPP) utilizing the Perturbation and Observation (P&O) MPP Tracking (MPPT) method that manage the duty cycle. The reference speed is determined as a function of both the generated PV power (Ppv) and the DC voltage regulation loop. Secondly, this paper explores the hardware implementation of the MPPT technique combined with V/f scalar control on an FPGA. This integration is aimed at minimizing the sampling time of the system by harnessing the power of parallel processing of the FPGA. In order to prove the performance the suggested control system, digital simulation using Xilinx System Generator (XSG) under Matlab/Simulink environment is performed. The obtained results prove the satisfactory performance of the control algorithms in terms efficiency, speed convergence accuracy.