Investi̇gati̇on of the performance of PV motor pumps for i̇rri̇gati̇on system.

This work is concerned with the features, analysis and performanceevaluation of typical four phases 8/6 pole configuration switched reluctance motor(SRM) driving a centrifugal pump powered by PV generator. The main elementsof solar pumping design such as photovoltaic module, step up converter (which was DC-DC power conditioning device between solar module and SRM drive)and split DC supply converter have been included in the system. The role of DC-DC step up converter was to enhancing the soft-start of switched reluctance motor, and increasing the PV source generation up to the motor desired voltage. Furthermore, this electronic converter also facilitated the MPPT controller to track the constant PV output voltage even if the solar irradiation changes. Split DC supply converter facilitates electronic commutation of each phase of SRM; it is very suitable for this type of switched reluctance machine since the number of phases are even. Moreover, this mid-point converter has proven to have better performance with minimum number of switch per phase. Two different pump speed controllers were proposed in this project; firstly, the motor speed is controlled by using PWM technique with variable DC bus voltage. Secondly, conventional PI controller was used in case constant speed is needed, even though solar insolation changes. Finally, the optimal design of the entire proposed solar water pumping design was modeled and simulated in SIMULINK. Different simulated results were also discussed and concluded along with differents weather condition's variation such as variation of insolation and cell's temperature.