Control of BLDC motor using PV fed bridgeless single switch SEPIC converter

Abstract

Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are now widely used in many industrial and domestic applications due to their significant advantages in terms of size, weight, torque and efficiency against any other type of motor. Most of the domestic appliances including refrigerators, fans and washing machines use BLDC motors in them. Moreover, photovoltaic (PV) inverters are being installed in more houses than ever which in-turn make BLDC motors more suitable in home appliances and can be seen as imminent future. However, PV due to its inherent nature is intermittent in its operation and requires an efficient DC-DC converter to control its output for its smooth operation. This papers proposes a bridgeless single switch single ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC) converter which serves as a better alternative to Buck-Boost and Cuk converter as it eliminates use of diode bridge rectifier at front end and thus lowers the conduction loss. A closed loop speed control technique is also introduced for control of BLDC motor to make it more practical for various applications and is verified using MATLAB/Simulink and a hardware prototype using Arduino. Results obtained from software and hardware prove the usefulness of the proposed scheme.