A Bidirectional Multiport Solar-assisted SRM Drive for Pure Electric Vehicle Applications with Versatile Driving and Autonomous Charging capabilities

Pure electric vehicles (PEVs) offer a solution for achieving a zero-emission transport system. This study presents the work towards the development of a bi-directional multiport solar-assisted switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive for PEV applications having battery-to-vehicle (B2V), photovoltaic (PV)-to-vehicle (PV2V), PV assisted B2V, grid-to-vehicle battery charging and PV2V battery charging functions. The power circuit is formed by the combination of a front-end circuit and a modified-Miller SRM converter. Battery, PV panel, grid and SRM form the four ports of this multiport drive, which with proper control, provide motoring, braking and charging functions. The dc-link voltage is fully controllable which improves the machine performance both at higher and lower speeds. During stand-still conditions, the battery is charged either from the grid at unity power factor or through the PV panel by incorporating the drive components to form an on-board battery charger, thereby reducing the reliance on charging stations. A fault-tolerant control is developed to operate the system with desired performance under single and double phase open-circuit faults. An 8/6 SRM is used for proof of concept and the experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed drive and control strategy.