Performance analysis of photovoltaic-powered water-pumping systems using switched reluctance motor drives

A photovoltaic-powered (PV) pumping system that uses a switched reluctance motor (SRM) is investigated. The motor is supplied by a d.c. voltage through a switching circuit. The drive circuit is much simpler than the normal d.c./a.c. inverter that is required to supply the induction motor. The efficiency of the SRM is considerably higher than that of equivalent d.c. or induction motors. In addition, because of the simple construction, the SRM is cheaper. By virtue of these advantages of the SRM, the proposed system has higher efficiency and lower cost compared with other systems. A design example is studied in detail to explore the advantages of PV pumping systems based on this new drive. It is found that the operating efficiency of the motor is about 85% during most of its working time. The matching efficiency between the PV array and the proposed system approaches 95%. The major part of the losses takes place in the pump and the riser pipes; this loss represents one-third of the total available energy.