An Approach for Enhanced Range With Regenerative Braking in Solar PV-Battery Based E-Rickshaw using Sensorless BLDC Motor Drive

The regenerative braking of electric vehicles (EVs), extends their driving range making a strong footprint towards green mobility and green energy solutions. This work deals with the simple and effective method of regenerative braking in a solar-PV (Photovoltaic)-battery fed E-rickshaw driven by a sensorless permanent magnet brushless direct current (BLDC) motor. Based on this method, the need for an additional converter to control the reverse power flow during regenerative braking is eliminated. The sole control is taken care by voltage source inverter (VSI) with appropriate switching sequences during motoring and braking modes. The energy recovered from the BLDC motor during electric braking transferred into the battery and thus extending the range of the vehicle and minimizes the loss. To make this system cost-effective and robust, the back emf sensing based position sensorless BLDC drive is implemented. The solar-PV array mounted on the top of E-rickshaw with the boost converter, provides a smooth and continuous operation regardless of the climate conditions. The battery has a direct connection to the DC link of the VSI thus eliminating additional DC-DC converter compared to the existing conventional systems. The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control of solar-PV array is achieved by a boost converter. The system under study becomes extremely cost-effective and simple to control and implement in practical scenario. The feasibility of the system is studied and analyzed in detail.