Matching induction motors to PVG for maximum power transfer Original Research Article

The matching of 3-phase induction motor to photovoltaic generators (PVGs) for maximum power transfer using enhanced version of Akbaba model for I–V characteristic of PVGs is investigated. Investigations are performed in time domain in order to be able to predict both the transient and as well as steady state performance of the system. The load is a water pump and a double step-up DC to DC converter and a six step voltage source inverter is used as power conditioning unit between the motor and PVG. The power conditioning unit forces the PVG is operated on its maximum power trajectory and power transfer from PVG to water pumping unit, which is composed of motor and pump. The PVG is modeled by recently developed Akbaba model. The system under investigation is fully modeled and the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed system is demonstrated through numerical results. It is shown that almost full available power of the PVG is utilized and hence maximum power transfer to the motor is achieved. Energy utilization efficiency of as high as 98.3% is achieved.