Control parameters optimization for PM DC motor in photovoltaic applications

Electric machines supplied by solar energy is increasingly attracting attention due to sustainability, clean and silence considerations. The efficiency of the machine drive is particularly important to reduce the overall system cost and maximize the energy utilization. Thus, this paper presents a modified and an optimized drive system control for a permanent magnet brushed (PMB) DC motor coupled with a mechanical pump for Photovoltaic (PV) water pumping applications. The proposed modification provides voltage protection and regulation for the motor to achieve the optimal performance with simple and low cost control implementation. The voltage regulation is control based avoiding the use of batteries and reducing cost. Also, a control parameters optimization is conducted to maximize the energy conversion efficiency for the whole system. The proposed optimization is based on genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with a Simulink Simpower simulation. Finally, the system is simulated and experimentally tested to validate the proposed drive.