PV Fed Water Pump System with Golden Section Search and Incremental Conductance Algorithms

In this study, a novel hybrid maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm is proposed for a photovoltaic (PV) fed brushless DC (BLDC) motor driven water pump. A proper design with accurate and fast MPPT is required to maximize the PV energy. In the proposed algorithm, the golden-section search (GSS) and incremental conductance (INC) based MPPT methods are used to acquire global efficiency through two loops. The GSS method quickly achieves the initial searching of the global peak, while the INC MPPT algorithm tracks the optimal power during the final loop. The algorithm model is tested under different irradiation using MATLAB/Simulink. Applying the algorithm and a proportional-integral (PI) controller yields that a voltage source inverter (VSI) transfers the optimal solar power to the pump. The BLDC motor is driven efficiently with more than 99% MPPT efficiency.