International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)

ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-8 Issue-2S2 December, 2018

Solar PV based Electric Vehicle

Nirmala. M, Malarvizhi.K, Thenmozhi. G

Abstract: The aspect of the locomotive trade is being Rendering to modern studies, the fossil fuels are depleting
restructured by concerns over oil deliveries, international in a debauched amount where the whole fossil fuel in the
guidelines and fuel rates. Consequently the vehicle technology universe could be entirely exhausted within 30 to 40 years.
should be adaptive to these concerns. The projected paper
describes solar PV powered Electric Vehicle,that solves the key
Thus novel investigation of natural resources of energy and
downside of fuel and pollution. It is an initiative in implementing power are necessary to fashion in the world. Solar PV
eco-friendly transportation in the world to build a green energy is the most promising natural resource among the
environment. In general, an electric vehicle uses a battery that is available resources. Solar power technology is an emerging
charged from an external power supply, but solar PV modules technology in vehicles.
are used to charge a battery by means of absorbing radiation This solar powered electrical vehicle is unique with the
from the sun and converting it into electrical power (Photovoltaic
Effect) by proposed method. The electrical power to batteries
design of the IGBT based Buck-boost convertor. It boosts
obtained from solar PV modules which might be associated either the PV panel voltage to the specified output voltagerequired
in series or parallel and charge controllers. To traverse the for the battery [4]. Clean solar vehicles to be quiet faraway
ultimate power point in the solar panel, in addition Maximum from real-world feasibility due to several restrictions such
Power Point Tracker (MPPT) controller is used. The Buck-Boost asminor power density, energetic shortcomings, weight, the
converter boost up the DC voltage generated from the solar PV cost and saving of fuel even in the face of a substantial high-
panel and then its output fed to a voltage source inverter. Voltage
source inverter convert to the AC power from a solar DC power
tech effort and some remarkable outcomes of solar
and ultimately tracks the Brushless DC motor which controls the energy[5].The MATLAB/SIMULINK is used to develop a
vehicle application. This planned model has Buck-Boost self-driven simulation model for solar PV based vehicle, to
convertor which is used to control the battery from the prime endorse the faces of diverse components along with the
possible power generation using a solar PV system fixed on the competency of estimating its inclusive performance in a
vehicle. An effectiveness of the proposed system have been responsive simulation environment.
modeled and its results, verified in MATLAB/SIMULINK.
The main objective of this project is to simulate the
Keywords:Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT), Electric performance of solar PV based electric vehicle using
Vehicle (EV), Permanent magnet Brushless DC
MATLAB/SIMULINK. The important components are PV
motor(PMBLDC), Perturb & Observe (P&O)
panel, Battery and PMBLDC motor. The important
I. INTRODUCTION components of the vehicle are modeled and its performance
is analyzed. In this model, a Buck-Boost converter using
At present, energy crisis is a vital unsolvable problem. IGBT have been designed such that the output voltage
The consumption and extraction cost of fossil fuels such as increases to the specified voltage in order to charge the
gasolene and diesel are very high. The major reason of the battery [6]. Additionally, a Voltage source inverter designed
surplus usage of these fossil fuel based vehicle is that have to supply power the BLDC motor, under a closed loop
enhanced the excavating of these conventional resources in operation with the help of Hall sensors [7]. Thus, simulation
an untenable approach [1]. The most important downside is results of this model are analyzed.
global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels, where
large amount of greenhouse gases is emitted that causes II. PROPOSED SOLAR PV BASED ELECTRIC
pollution. In prospect, there will be no fuel left for usage VEHICLE
because of the rise in demand for gasolene and diesel. So, it
is wise to adapt to electric vehicles rather than traditional IC In general, the suggested solar PV established Electric
engine vehicles. Solar power technology is an efficient and vehicle block diagram is shown in Fig.1.
feasible alternative source of renewable energy [2][3]. Solar A. Solar PV system
energy from the sun is stored in a battery and is employed
torun a vehicle. These vehicles results as pollution free
atmosphere and quiet operation. In 2030, all IC engine
vehicles might be replaced by electric vehicles. In recent
times, DC solar power based various electric vehicle has
been fabricated and tested [3].

Revised Manuscript Received on December 08, 2018.

Nirmala.M, Assistant Professor, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Fig. 1Solar PV Established Electric Vehicle Block
Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. Diagram
Malarvizhi.K,Professor & Head, Electrical &Electronics
Engineering,Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu,
India.
Thenmozhi. G, Assistant Professor, Automobile Engineering
department, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu,
India.

Published By:
Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
Retrieval Number: BS2060128218/19©BEIESP 276 & Sciences Publication
 Solar PV based Electric Vehicle

A solar PV cell is a device that directly transforms solar This DC-DC converter can be actuated in two ways of
energy to electrical energy by the photovoltaic effect, it operation, continuous and discontinuous conduction way. In
defines an electrical characteristics such as current and former mode, afore the beginning of the switching cycle, the
voltage fluctuate when it exposed to light [8]. current flows through inductor moderately discharges, but
The solar cell equivalent circuit is shown in fig.2 and never goes to zero. In the second mode, the current through
Equation (1) describes the current drawn from the solar cell. inductor goes to zero. In this DC-DC converter [11], the
duty cycle adjustment of the power switch controls the
output voltage. When the power switch is triggered ON, the
input source makes current to the inductor (L) and load.
When the power switch is triggered OFF, the stored energy
from inductor freewheels current continuously to the load
through the diode.
C. Solar PV Panel with MPPT Charge Controller
The greatest govern feature of the entire vehicle is
designed based on the solar PV panel intention. The power
Fig. 2 Solar Cell Equivalent Circuit
rating of a motor is 1000W. So, the solar PV is designed
with 1050W with keeping 50W as tolerance. The total
(1) number of PV panel used in this vehicle is 4 and each
having 250W.
a = Idealizing aspect
The specification of solar PV is as follows: Maximum
k= Boltzmann’s constant
voltage from one cell is 0.666V, the available size of the
Tc= cell temperature in absolute
48V solar panel for all 4 panel is 49 Square feet, the
Q = charge of electron
maximum voltage from 72 cells of the solar panel at open
V= voltage imposed across the cell
circuit is 59.5V and maximum voltage output at average
I0= dark saturation current
condition of the sunlight is 48.5V. The maximum current
The essential parameters of a solar cell are following:
from 72 cells of the solar panel at open circuit is 8A, the
Short circuit current (Isc) is the highest generated current
maximum current output at average condition of sunlight a
under short circuit situations in which voltage across a cell
short circuit is 5.15A, the maximum power output from a
is zero. Open circuit voltage is the voltage of cell at night,
solar panel in average condition of sunlight is 250W and the
when generated current is zero and is given by the equation
maximum power output from 4 solar panel output is 1000W.
(2) mathematically[9],
The MPPT controller Simulink diagram is shown in Fig.4
(2) which is a controller with buck -boost DC converter. It
Where, . create enhancements in the counterpart between the solar
PV output panels) and the battery voltage. It basically
MPP is the point of current-voltage curve, where maintains DC output from the solar panels to the required
dissipated power is maximum. Maximum efficiency is the
voltage needed to charge the battery.
ratio between power at maximum and power at incident
light.
(3)
Fill Factor is the ratio between power at maximum and
the product of short circuit current and open circuit voltage

(4)

B. Buck-Boost Converter
The converter is a switch mode DC to DC converter in
which the DC output voltage can be altered to a lower or
higher level than the DC input voltage. The magnitude of
output voltage depends on the duty cycle of the switch in
converter [10].
Fig. 4 DC-DC Converter And MPPT Charge Controller
Simulink Model

The Buck-Boost Converter Simulink model is shown in

Fig.5. To sustain the voltage in the battery, the main task of
this converter is to excerpt the extreme power from the solar
PV. By regulating operating voltage and current of the

Fig. 3 Equivalent Circuit Of Buck-Boost Converter

Published By:
Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
Retrieval Number: BS2060128218/19©BEIESP 277 & Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)
ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-8 Issue-2S2 December, 2018

converter in such that, it achieves the Maximum Power Point D. Battery

(MPP). The MPPT controller works as follows: the PV array A battery is a 48 V deep cycle lead-acid re-chargeable
current and voltage are intuited at a certain sampling cycle battery. The lead–acid batteries are the oldest type of the
using a current and voltage sensors respectively. These rechargeable battery [13]. A lead-acid battery is deep-cycle
tracked values of voltage and current are fed into an MPPT discharged upon its capacity. The battery has an extremely
block which computes MPP and provides the mention values small energy to weight ratio and a little energy-to-volume
for the current and voltage. These are converted to a power ratio, their facility to deliver high surge currents means that
value that must be same as requirement of the converter. If the cells maintain a relatively large power-to-weight ratio.
there is a difference between the two duty cycles of the buck- The features of the PV cell, along with their low cost, make
boost converter is adjusted. The maximum power from the them attractive to provide the high current required by the
PV array is extracted, when the measured power equals to motors used in the electric vehicle. The charging is carried
the reference value. Fig.6 shows the characteristics of PV out in three different stages rather than through a continuous
panel. The converter is usually based on the typical non- fixed voltage/current supply to the battery. Due to the
isolated, boost type. The most crucial feature of the MPPT is internal electro-chemical mechanism of a lead-acid battery,
its ability to track the MPP as rapidly and powerfully as the quantity of voltage/current of each stage is diverted as
possible. There are many types of MPPT controller such as per requirement of the battery. The charge controller
Perturb and observe, incremental conductance and hill controls charging voltage before battery [14]. Later
climbing. These controller are configured using static or monitoring the battery, the charge controller determines the
adaptive step time. The incremental conductance method period of charging.
provides improved tracking efficiency, because it reduces
steady state oscillation [12]. E. BLDC motor
1000W synchronous type BLDC motor controls the
electric vehicle. BLDC motor generates both stator and rotor
magnetic fields with related frequency. The BLDC motor
has a higher efficiency and extensive life without brushes
and mechanical commutator. Also, it has a lower losses
owing to high starting torque and increased in efficiency.
Out of many configurations, three phase motors are the most
popular and are widely used in e-bikes. The vehicle is
selected a hub motor because the motor replaces the hub of
the wheel. Coupling loss is reduced and mounting can be
made easy without the use of chains or belts, and that
reduces size and weight of the vehicle. Fig.7 illustrates that
the BLDC motor simulink circuit

Fig. 5Simulink Model For Buck Boost Converter

Fig 7BLDC Motor Simulink Circuit

III. SIMULATION RESULTS

The Solar irradianceand temperature are 1000 and 40
degree given as input to the PV module which produces a
panel output voltage of about 36V which is not sufficient to
charge the battery used. Thus by using a Buck-Boost
converter required the voltage of 48V needed by the battery is
provided. The Maximum power point tracker has been used to
identify the maximum operating point of the PV module[15].
Fig. 6 The Characteristics Of PV Panel:A) I-V
A charge controller is designed such that it controls the
Characteristics B) P-I Characteristics C) P-V
overcharging of the battery.
Characteristics

Published By:
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Retrieval Number: BS2060128218/19©BEIESP 278 & Sciences Publication
 Solar PV based Electric Vehicle

Fig.8 PV Panel Output Voltage, Boost Converter Output

Voltage

Fig.8 shows simulation results of the output voltage at PV

panel and at the Boost converter output voltage. This result
shows that the PV module voltage is 36V and increased to
about 60V, with help of the DC-DC converter.Fig.9 shows
Fig. 11 Control Of Converter During The Increase In
the voltage of the battery during charging.
Solar Irradiation

Fig.11 shows that the increase in the voltage of the PV

panel if the solar irradiation is very high, then the output
voltage of the PV array increases from 60V to 80V. So the
motor speed also increases thus increases the negative error.
Since the controller reduces the duty cycle value from 0.4 to
0.3, the output voltage of the buck boost converter get
reduces so as to maintain the rated speed as constant at 1500
rpm.

Fig.9The Battery Voltage During Charging

Fig.12 Control Of Converter During The Reduction Of

The Set Speed
Fig. 10 Control Of Converter During The Reduction In
Solar Irradiation When the set speed is decreasing from 1500 rpm to 1000
rpmat 4 sec correspondingly, the duty cycle decreases from
Fig.10 represents the change in a voltage of the PV panel 0.4 to 0.25 in the time period of 4.2 sec. So the output
due to decrease in irradiation at 0.2sec, from 60V to 45V. voltage decreases from 45V to 30V. Hence the
Then the output voltage of the photo voltaic array gets speeddecreases from 1500 rpm to 1000 rpm and settles in
decreases up to 0.255 which makes speed gets decreases thetime of 4.2 sec, are shown in fig.12.
from 0.25 to 0.3s.At the same time, the duty cycle of buck-
boost converter gets increases from 0.25 to 0.3 to improve
the output voltage Vo, so as to maintain the rated speed as
constant at 1500 rpm.

Published By:
Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
Retrieval Number: BS2060128218/19©BEIESP 279 & Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)
ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-8 Issue-2S2 December, 2018

maintained. The characteristics of proposed solar PV based

BLDC motor driven electric vehicle and easiness create it
efficiently beneficial in strategy of BLDC motor drives in
numerous fields.The proposed procedure confirms the
consistency of BLDC motor through non-conventional
source by removing fossil fuel and also environmental
responsive for life of the vehicle.

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Table 1. Simulation Parameters Of The Solar Pv Based
Vehicle

IV. CONCLUSION
The proposed solar powered electric vehicle has several
merits such as fuel efficient, reduction in the pollution and
provides noiseless operation. The paper deliberates about
operation of the BLDC motor in closed loop control in
accord with the change in solar irradiance condition and
change in set speed of an electric vehicle. The advantages of
BLDC motor is higher value of efficiency, power density
and speed ranges, which makes selection of this motor, for
various applications. The simulation result illustrates that,
for various voltage level of PV array, controlling of duty
cycle of the DC-DC converter, then the set speed gets

Published By:
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Retrieval Number: BS2060128218/19©BEIESP 280 & Sciences Publication