Optimal Operation of Automotive Electrical System with Photovoltaic Generation and Three-level Battery Management Scheme
Abstract: For many years, the electrical power requirements in Automotive Electrical System (AES) have been quickly increasing and are predicted to continue to climb. This trend is being pushed by the introduction of a slew of new vehicle features. The constant growth in power needs is stretching the limitations of current automotive power generation and control technologies, stimulating the development of higher-power and higher-voltage electrical systems and components. Electrical power on a vehicle is not free. It comes as a direct result of consuming fuel within the engine to drive the alternator. With a typical engine efficiency of 44% and with present fuel costs this leads to onboard electrical power costs 4 times more than a typical household utility rate. Global oil and gas resource depletion, as well as environmental concerns, have prompted the automobile industry to build more efficient and eco-friendly cars in order to minimize fuel use and safeguard the environment. In our proposed Automotive Electrical system configuration, we have an AES system which is powered by an automotive alternator and battery combination where the alternator is driven by an IC engine and we have a hybrid energy system using a Rooftop PV array with a battery management system (BMS). We discovered that during the off state, the whole load of the automobile is dependent on the 12Vlead acid battery for power, which causes the SOC to drop dramatically. As a result, the suggested model will include a flexible thin-film solar PV module positioned on the rooftop, which will be supported by a Maximum Power Point (MPPT) Tracking charge controller and will deliver energy to recharge the extra battery and meet the electrical requirements when the vehicle is stationary. When the vehicle is in motion, the existing alternator in the car's electrical system takes over the battery charging requirements, by this way, we can meet the electrical requirements of AES without running the engine for a long time by consuming fuel. The proposed model specialty is investigated using MATLAB/Simulink and compared with existing methods. Keywords: Automotive Electrical System (AES), Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Hybrid Energy System, Rooftop PV array, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT).