A photovoltaic-battery powered all-electric rickshaw for the Indian market

This paper proposes a novel photovoltaic-battery hybrid all-electric auto rickshaw for the Indian market. In the proposed topology, the electric power flow from a crystalline silicon photovoltaic array are controlled using a boost converter so that the PV cells operate at their most efficient point while power flow from the battery is controlled by a bidirectional buck-boost converter to maintain a fixed converter output voltage. Outputs of both converters are connected to a common DC link that is the input for the propulsion driver electronics. By this topology, DC bus voltage value is independent from the battery pack voltage and the range of the driving distance between the charging periods is increased due to the solar power contribution. The paper includes results of vehicle driving distance range, battery state of charge (SOC), DC link voltage, and power flow between battery pack, propulsion driver electronics and PV array according to worst day scenario.