Rooftop Solar PV Assisted E-Rickshaw with Hybrid Energy Storage System

E-rickshaws (or Electric-rickshaw) have sparked a great deal of interest as a green and sustainable transit option, as compared to traditional auto rickshaws that use fossil fuels. The primary component that affects E-rickshaw mobility over the course of its lifetime is its Energy Storage System (ESS). In contemporary E-rickshaws, lead-acid batteries are the most common form of ESS, hence it's essential to prolong their lifespan. From this perspective, we assess the potential for updating the traditional E-rickshaw's energy generation and storage systems for technological and financial gain by employing a solar PV panel on the rooftop. Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is generally selected, but it reacts slowly to unpredictable transient events. Therefore, to construct a Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS), a high-power density ESS like a supercapacitor (SCs) must be combined with a battery. In this paper, a combination of solar PV panel is installed over the E-rickshaw roof, along with the combination of both battery and SC as HESS. It is observed that HESS provides average power over extended periods of time and manages transient situations optimally. It normalizes the voltage and power at the DC link and regulates it according to the IEC 61000-3-2 standard. Finally, the MATLAB Simulink framework is used for performance analysis of the proposed system.