G.Paranjothi and R.

Manikandan 65

Photovoltaic Based Brushless DC Motor Closed

Loop Drive for Electric Vehicle
G.Paranjothi and R.Manikandan

Abstract- This paper proposes the development of BLDC In addition, the ratio of delivered torque to the size of the
motor using photovoltaic array to run the electrical vehicle. The motor is higher, making it useful in applications where space
development of advanced magnetic materials, power electronics and weight are critical factors, especially in aerospace
and digital control systems make the Permanent Magnet BLDC applications. All of the electrical motors that do not require
motors an effective solution for wide range of inverter fed an electrical connection between stationary and rotating parts
variable speed drives. The obtained power from the can be considered as brushless permanent magnet (PM)
photovoltaic array can be fed to the BLDC motor through machines [3], which can be categorized based on the PMs
buck-boost converter. The Hall Effect sensor mounted on the mounting and the back-EMF shape. The PMs can be surface
motor shaft provides a position feedback to the driver circuitry
mounted on the rotor (SMPM) or installed inside of the
of the inverter circuit, which allows the flow of current to stator
phase windings in a controlled sequence to produce the desired rotor (IPM) [4], and the back-EMF shape can either be
torque and speed. In electric vehicle the BLDC motor drive is sinusoidal or trapezoidal. According to the back-EMF
made by the power electronics devices and integrated circuits, shape, PMAC synchronous motors (PMAC or PMSM) have
its function is to receive the electric bike motor’s start, stop and sinusoidal back-EMF and Brushless DC motors(BLDC or
brake so that control the hub motor to start, stop and brake. CLM) have trapezoidal back-EMF. A PMAC motor is
The speed feedback signal is used to control and adjust the typically excited by a three-phase sinusoidal current, and a
speed and also provide protection and display. Using MATLAB BLDC motor is usually powered by a set of currents having a
the driver circuit was simulated and plotted. quasi-square waveform [5,6]. Because of their high power
density, reliability, efficiency, maintenance free nature and
Keywords: PV, Buck-Boost Converter, Brushless DC motor, silent operation, permanent magnet (PM) motors have been
MATLAB. widely used in a variety of applications in industrial
automation [7] and household products.
I. INTRODUCTION
The first section gives the introduction about the paper.
BLDC motors, also called Permanent Magnet The second section of the paper discuss about the
Synchronous motors, are one of the motor types that have photovoltaic panel. BLDC motor drive is discussed in the
more rapidly gained popularity, mainly because of their third section. The fourth section deal with the simulation
better characteristics and performance [1]. These motors are work carried through MATLAB environment. The fifth
used in a great amount of industrial sectors because their section is about the results and discussions. The final section
architecture is suitable for any safety critical applications. presents the conclusion.
The brushless DC motor is a synchronous electric motor that,
from a modeling perspective, looks exactly like a DC motor, II. PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY
having a linear relationship between current and torque, Solar electric systems convert sunlight to “DC” or direct
voltage and rpm. It is an electronically controlled current electricity the same type of electricity that is
commutation system, instead of having a mechanical produced by every-day batteries where electrons flow in one
commutation, which is typical of brushed motors. direction. Solar cells, generally consisting of 2 layers of
Additionally, the electromagnets do not move, the permanent silicon (semi-conductor material) and a separation layer, are
magnets rotate and the armature remains static. This gets wired together and assembled into panels or modules. When
around the problem of how to transfer current to a moving the cells are exposed to sunlight, photons from the sun
armature. In order to do this, the brush-system / commutator interact with electrons in the upper silicon layer, basically
assembly is replaced by an intelligent electronic controller, knocking them loose from their associated atoms. The loose
which performs the same power distribution as a brushed DC electrons are attracted to atoms in the lower layer of silicon
motor [2]. and travel through the wire to get there. This movement of
electrons from one side of the cell to the other through the
BLDC motors have many advantages over brushed DC wire is electrical current.
motors and induction motors, such as a better When a solar panel is manufactured, the PV cells are
speed versus torque characteristics, high dynamic response, wired together in “series”. The output voltage of the panel
high efficiency and reliability, long operating life, noiseless depends on the number of cells in the series. Common
operation, higher speed ranges, and reduction of nominal output voltages are 12, 18, and 24 volts DC. The
electromagnetic interference (EMI). output wattage is dependent on the efficiency of the cells and
the size or area of each cell in the panel. The larger and more
G.Paranjothi is a M.E. student and R.Manikandan is working as Assistant
Professor, both are with Department of Electrical and Electronics efficient the cells, the greater the wattage will be per square
Engineering, The Kavery Engineering College, Mecheri, Salem District, foot. Panels made using more efficient cells tend to be more
Tamil Nadu, India. expensive.

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE – ISSN: 2320-9569) Vol. 9, Issue. 1, Nov-2013.
G.Paranjothi and R.Manikandan 66

When the installer assembles a PV system, an exact The speed and torque of the motor depend on the strength
number of panels are wired in series strings to achieve the of PMs and in certain instances the magnetic field generated
target voltage required by the inverter or other load. Then by energized winding. The two main objectives are to
groups of panel strings are often wired together in “parallel” control the speed and torque of the BLDC motor as shown in
in order to increase the wattage of the system. Once all these figure 3.The phase A terminal voltage with respect to the star
components are in place, the sun provides the energy. point of the stator Van is given in as
dia
Va  Ra i a  L  ea (1)
dt
Where, Ra is the stator resistance of the ‘A’ phase, La the
phase inductance, e a the back-EMF and I a the phase
current. Similar equations can be written for the other two
phases.

Fig.1. Equivalent Circuit of PV Array

In fig 1.the PV module consists of voltage-controlled

current source connected in parallel with a diode [8]. The
output current depends on the available sunlight and the
temperature of the module. The unit used to measure the
available power which can be drawn from the sun is called
irradiance and expressed in W/m2.

Fig.4.Equivalent circuit of the BLDC motor

dib
Fig.2.Solar Irradiance per Day Vb  Rb ib  L  eb
dt
III. BLDC MOTOR DRIVE (2)
A Brushless DC motor has a permanent magnet rotor and a dic
wound stator. The windings are connected to an inverter. The Vc  Rc ic  L  ec c
inverter energizes the windings in a pattern which rotates the dt
magnetic field around the stator. The energized stator (3)
winding causes the PM rotor to rotate in a synchronous The torque may be determined as,
fashion around the stator. So it is important to know the dm
perfect sequence to energize the stator windings. In BLDC Te  K f m  j  TL
motor the armature does not rotate, instead the PMs rotate. In
dt
(4)
brushed DC motor, windings are in the rotor. So it becomes
Where
difficult to transfer the current to the moving rotor. In a three
e- back-emfs
phase BLDC six step commutations is the simplest method
Kf-fiction constant
to drive the motor. One set of sequence represents a full
J-rotor inertia
electrical rotation. Number of electrical cycle is equal to the
Te-electric torque
number of pole pairs. Increase in pole pairs may decrease the
torque ripple. TL-load torque
 m- rotor speed
Three hall sensors read the rotor position every 60
electrical degrees of rotation. So in one complete electrical
rotation hall sensors provide six unique position values.
Table 1 shows hall sensor table for a three-phase BLDC
motor with six unique values along with active phase
voltages and switches.

Fig.3 BLDC Motor with Inverter Circuit TABLE I- HALL SENSOR SIGNALS FOR BLDC MOTOR

Hall Sensor Values Phases Switches

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE – ISSN: 2320-9569) Vol. 9, Issue. 1, Nov-2013.
G.Paranjothi and R.Manikandan 67

(H3,H2,H1)
IV. SIMULATION OF PROPOSED SCHEME
100 Va-Vb ZA+- ZB- The closed loop controller for a three phase BLDC motor
101 Va-Vc ZA+- ZC- is modeled using MATLAB/SIMULINK environment
ZB+- ZC-
V+
001 Vb-Vc 1

011 Vb-Va ZB+- ZA- R1

010 Vc-Va ZC+- ZA- +

+

110 Vc-Vb ZC+- ZB- -

v
C1
25 s -
VM1
pv panel
Constant 1
Generally the hall table is provided by the motor T

V-
1 S I
manufacturer. Depending on the current hall value, firing S
Uout
2

signal is given to the corresponding switches of the inverter

as per Table 1.
Fig.6 Simulation Model of PV Panel
Speed of a BLDC motor is proportional to the applied
voltage across its windings. A precise speed can be
Figure 6. Shows the sub system block of simulation model
controlled using a conventional PI controller. A well
of PV panel from which a constant and variable voltage were
designed PI controller generates a duty cycle command
obtained, usually the output voltage is between (18-24) V
based on the difference between the actual and commanded
speed. Depending on the duty cycle command, PWM pulses
are generated that vary the gate drive of the inverter switches
1
G
Terminator
to get the required speed. g m
Diode
V_--
1 C E 4
V+ IGBT

L R C

V_+
2 3
V-

Fig.7 Simulation Model of buck-boost converter

Figure 7 shows the simulation model of buck-boost

converter, the voltage obtained from the PV panel is given to
the buck-boost converter by which the rated voltage is
obtained.

Fig 5.Block Diagram of PV Based BLDC Motor

Kp
The block diagram in fig 5 represents the speed control of
BLDC motor, which consists of PV panel, buck-boost
1
converter, inverter, decoder, PWM generator and PI
K Ts Out
controller. 1 Ki
The inverter along with the position sensor is functionally z-1
Error
analogous to the commutator of a conventional DC motor.
A brushless dc motor has a permanent magnet rotor and Fig.8 Simulation Model of PI controller
wound stator .the windings are connected to an inverter. The
inverter energizes the windings which rotate the magnetic The conventional PI controller is one of the most common
field around the rotor. The speed of a BLDC is proportional approaches for speed control in industrial electrical drives. In
to the applied voltage across its windings precise speed can industrial process PI controller attempts to that error between
be controlled using a conventional PI controller. A well a tracked variable and reference set point and then the output
designed PI generates a duty cycle command based on the is corrected which can adjust the process accordingly. The
difference between the actual and commanded speed. calculation involves two separate modes namely proportional
Depending on the duty cycle command the PWMpulses are mode, integral mode. The proportional mode determines to
generated that vary the gate drive of the inverter switches to the current error and the integral mode determines the
get the required speed. reaction based recent error. As shown in fig 8.the error signal
By simply varying the voltage across the motor, one can is given to the proportional and integral controller. The set
control the speed of the motor. When using PWM outputs to values used for Kp, Ki are 0.000585 and 0.05 respectively.
control the six switches of the three phase bridge, variation
of the motor voltage can be achieved easily by changing the
duty cycle.

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE – ISSN: 2320-9569) Vol. 9, Issue. 1, Nov-2013.
G.Paranjothi and R.Manikandan 68

Proper control of PWM ensure efficiency and accuracy in

applications such as brushless motor control the pulses are
<= 1 generated by comparing a triangular carrier waveform to
Repeating G reference modulating signal as shown in fig 9. The relational
Sequence Relational
Operator operator logically compares the output from PI controller
with repeating sequence and generates PWM signals
required for triggering the converters. Fig 10 shows the
1
complete view of proposed simulink model.
D
Fig.9 Simulation Model of PWM generator
Maximum Power Tracking of Solar Powered BLDC Closed Loop Drive

Discrete,
Ts= 2e-006 s. 0

powergui Constant
Load (N/M)

S3

Step
Load (N/M)

752 .8
150 g Tm
G 750
V_+ +
Constant g
A A
Irradiance Display 2
V+ m M
(W/m^2)
B B N_rpm
S1 V_-- -
V- C C Measurement

Step BUCK_BOOST _CONVERTER PMBLDC_MOTOR

pv panel + - Vdc
Irradiance + - Vdc1
(W/m^2) v
v

1500 nI Scope
Mean Value
Constant an
e
Reference M 55 .91
PI D G
speed (RPM)
78 .14
S2
Discrete PWM_Generator
PI Controller Display 1

Step
Reference
Speed (RPM)

Fig.10.Simulink model of PV Based BLDC motor drive

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Several results were performed to evaluate the 1000
performance of the proposed PV based closed loop control of Set-Speed
) 750
PMBLDC motor drive system which is simulated in m
pr 500
MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. To evaluate the (
de
performance of the system, series of measurements have ep 250
Act-Speed
been accomplished. The results can be divided into four S 0
groups such as constant output set speed up/down, voltage 0 0.05 0.1 0.15
up/down, load impact response. 125
Vin
100
)
(V 75
e 50
ga
tl 25
o Vo
V 0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15
1
0.75

tal 0.5
e
D 0.25
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15
Time (sec)

Fig.11.Starting Response with Steady State

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE – ISSN: 2320-9569) Vol. 9, Issue. 1, Nov-2013.
G.Paranjothi and R.Manikandan 69

The starting response shows the relationship between

speed, voltage and duty cycle fig 11. At initial condition the 1000
Act-Speed
actual speed is lesser than the set speed up to 0.05sec and ) 750
after that the response represents a steady state condition in m
pr 500 Set-Speed
which all the response is to their rated values by reducing (
d 250
duty cycle from 0.6 percent to 0.4 percent. e
ep
1000 S 0
0.5 0.52 0.54 0.56 0.58 0.6 0.62 0.64 0.66 0.68 0.7
) 750 125
m
pr 500 Act-Speed Vin
( Set-Speed ) 100
de (V 75
e 250 eg
p 50
S 0 at Vo
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 lo 25
V 0
125 Vin 0.5 0.52 0.54 0.56 0.58 0.6 0.62 0.64 0.66 0.68 0.7
100
) 1
V( 75
e
g 50 0.75
tal 25
Vo
alt 0.5
o
V 0 e
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 D 0.25
1
0
0.5 0.52 0.54 0.56 0.58 0.6 0.62 0.64 0.66 0.68 0.7
0.75 Time (sec)
at 0.5
l
Fig.13.Step-up Voltage Response
e
D 0.25
The step up voltage response in fig 13 shows that upto
0 0.6sec the output voltage and speed are in rated values, if the
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
Time (sec) solar irradiation is very high, then the output voltage of the
photovoltaic array gets increases from 75v to 95v. so the
motor speed will get increasest thus increses the negative
Fig.12.Step-down Voltage Response error. Since the PI controller get reduce the duty cucle fron
0.4 to 0.3 the output voltage of buck boost converter get
The stepdown voltage response shown in fig 12.represents reducess so as to maintain the rated speed as constant at 750
the change in voltage at 0.2sec from 75v to 55v. then the rpm.
output voltage of the photovalatic array gets decreases upto
0.255 which makes speed gets decreases from 0.25 to 0.3 at
the same time the dutyn cycle of buck-boost converter gets ) 1000
m Act-Speed
increases from 0.25 to 0.3 to improves the output voltage Vo, pr 750
( 500
so as to maintain the rated speed as constant at 750 rpm. de Set-Speed
e 250
p 0
S
1.9 1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2.25 2.3 2.35 2.4
125 Vin
) 100
(V 75
e 50 Vo
ga
tl 25
o
V 0
1.9 1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2.25 2.3 2.35 2.4
1
0.75
at 0.5
l
e 0.25
D
0
1.9 1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2.25 2.3 2.35 2.4
Time (sec)
Fig.14.Response of Speed Step-down

When the set speed is decreasing from 750 rpm to 500

rpm at 2 sec correspondingly the duty cycle decreases from

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE – ISSN: 2320-9569) Vol. 9, Issue. 1, Nov-2013.
G.Paranjothi and R.Manikandan 70

0.4 to 0.25 upto 2.2 sec. So the output voltage decreases

from 55v to 45v,and hence the speed gets decreases from Fig 16 shows the response of load impact, increase or
750rpm to 500 rpm and settles at 2.2 sec. decrease in load causes a corresponding change in speed, in
order to maintain the set speed the duty cycle of the
1000 converter gets varied and regulates the output voltage of
) Set-Speed
m 750 buck-boost converter accordingly.
pr Act-Speed
( 500
d
e 250
e VI. CONCLUSION
p
S 0 This paper discuss about the closed loop speed control of
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15
BLDC motor in accordance with the change in load
125 Vin condition of an electric vehicle. The BLDC motor is a
)
100 correct choice for various applications due to higher
V( 75 efficiency, higher power density and higher speed ranges
e 50 compare to other motor drives.The simulation result shows
ga
lt 25 Vo that for various voltage level of PV array the set speed gets
o
V 0 maintained by controlling the duty cycle of the buck-boost
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 converter. The output characteristics and simplicity of model
make it effectively useful in design of BLDC motor drives in
1
various fields .From this proposed technique ensures the
0.75 reliability of BLDC motor through renewable source by
at 0.5 eliminating the fossil fuels and also environmental friendly
l for end of life vehicle.
e
D 0.25
0
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 REFERENCES
Time (sec)

Fig.15. Response of Speed Step-up [1] Becerra RC, Ehsani M. High-Speed Torque Control of
Brushless Permanent Magnet Motors. IEEE Trans. Ind.
Electron. 1988;35:402–406.
As shown in fig 15 the set speed gets increases from 750 [2] Hubik V, Sveda M, Singule V. On the Development of BLDC
rpm to 1000 rpm at 1 sec a sudden voltage transient may Motor Control Run-Up Algorithms for Aerospace Application.
occur, to achieve the rated speed the duty cycle of the buck- Proceedings of the 13th Power Electronics and Motion Control
boost converter increases from 0.4 to 0.5 by using PI Conference (EPE-PEMC 2008); Poznan, Poland. September
controller. So the output voltage of converter increases from 2008; pp. 1620–1624.
55v to 75v to reach the decided speed of 1000rpm at 1.05 [3] Bonfe M, Bergo M. A Brushless Motor Drive with Sensorless
sec. Control for Commercial Vehicle Hydraulic Pumps.
Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on
Industrial Electronics (ISIE 2008); Cambridge, England. July
1000 Set-Speed 2008; pp. 612–617.
)
m 750 [4] Bianchi N, Bolognani S, Jang JH, Sul SK. Comparison of PM
pr Motor Structures and Sensorless Control Techniques for Zero-
( 500
de Speed Rotor Position Detection. IEEE Trans Power
e 250 Act-Speed Electron. 2007; 22:2466–2475.
p
S 0 [5] Su GJ, McKeever JW. Low-Cost Sensorless Control of
2.7 2.75 2.8 2.85 2.9 2.95 3 3.05 3.1 Brushless DC Motors with Improved Speed Range. IEEE
125 Trans. Power Electron. 2004;19:296–302.
Vin
100 [6] Damodharan P, Vasudevan K. Indirect Back-EMF Zero
) Crossing Detection for Sensorless BLDC Motor
V( 75
e Operation.Proceedings of the International Conference on
g 50 Power Electronics and Drives Systems (PEDS 2005); Kuala
tal 25
o Vo Lumpur, Malaysia. November 2008; pp. 1107–1111.
V 0 [7] Naidu M, Nehl TW, Gopalakrishnan S, Wurth L. Keeping
2.7 2.75 2.8 2.85 2.9 2.95 3 3.05 3.1 Cool while Saving Space and Money: A Semi-Integrated,
Sensor less PM Brushless Drive for a 42-V Automotive
1
HVAC Compressor. IEEE Ind. Appl. Mag. 2005;11:20–28.
0.75 [8] T. Shimizu, M. Hirakata, T. Kamezawa, and H. Watanabe,
“Generation control circuit for photovoltaic modules,” IEEE
alt 0.5
e Trans. Power Electron.,vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 293–300, May 2001.
D 0.25
0
2.7 2.75 2.8 2.85 2.9 2.95 3 3.05 3.1
Time (sec)

Fig.16 Load Impact Response

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE – ISSN: 2320-9569) Vol. 9, Issue. 1, Nov-2013.
G.Paranjothi and R.Manikandan 71

G.Paranjothi was born in Mettur in 1984. He

received the B.E degree in Electrical and
Electronic from Muthayammal Engineering
College in the year of 2006. He is currently
working as Assistant Professor in EEE
department and pursuing M.E, Power
Electronics and Drives (PT) in The Kavery
Engineering College. His area of interest
includes on power electronics applications of
renewable energy sources. He is a life time member in ISTE. Email:
[email protected]

R.Manikandan was born in Salem in 1986.

He received B.E degree in electrical and
electronics from Mahindra Engineering
College in the year of 2008. He got M.E
degree in Power Electronics and Drives from
Sona College of Technology in the year of
2010. He is now working as an assistant
professor at The Kavery Engineering College.
He is doing Ph.D (PT) at Anna University.
His current research works based on fuzzy logic speed control of
BLDC motor drives. He is a life time member in ISTE. Email:
[email protected]

International Journal of Emerging Trends in Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE – ISSN: 2320-9569) Vol. 9, Issue. 1, Nov-2013.