Conversion of Motor Technology for Economical Solar PV fed Water Pumping System

With the rise in the use of green technology for energy saving, water pumping has shifted to utilizing renewable power sources like solar energy, for reasons like sustainability, scalability, and an overall clean source of energy. The motors used for these pumps need to be efficient and reliable, to reduce the overall system cost, and to improve reliability. The aim of this paper is to design and improve the performance of a synchronous reluctance motor (SYRM) designed for water pumping application. A synchronous reluctance motor is designed using combined analytical and FE procedure and its performance is compared with an induction motor (IM) and synchronous reluctance motor of the same stator frame dimensions and windings. The comparison is based on output power, output torque, torque ripple and power factor. The obtained results show that there is an increase in output power and torque using the same frame size, and a reduction in rotor material (both copper and magnetic steel), leading to a 3-4% reduction in rotor losses, hence improving net efficiency.