Multilevel converter fed SRM Drive for Single stage PV array based water pumping

In this work it is proposed a switched reluctance machine (SRM) drive supplied by a renewable source (PV array) to operate a water pumping system. To improve the speed of the commutation between phases it is proposed the use of a multilevel converter for the SRM drive. This converter was designed to reduce the number of controlled power semiconductors, reducing the cost of the system. To obtain the maximum power extraction of the PV system is proposed the use of an algorithm based on the product of the time derivative of power with the time derivative of voltage. A control system to ensure the balance between the power generated by the renewable source and the water pumping system is also proposed. The operation and characteristics of the system will be verified by several numerical tests.