Solar vehicles, Power management unit, Hybrid solar vehicles, HESS, PMU
Abstract
This paper discusses the use of a solar photovoltaic source in a medium-sized SUV parallel hybrid vehicle. The solar circuits, the hybrid energy storage system, the bi-directional converters, and the power management unit are modeled in PSIM using real manufacturer data. To evaluate the power management strategy, the worst-case scenarios from this driving cycle are simulated at the PSIM circuit to attest to the resilience of the approach and the better use of solar energy. A pure HEV is compared with a solar HEV at the same urban drive cycle to evaluate the solar contribution. A range of approximately 14 km provided by the solar contribution is achieved, considering the same vehicle dynamics of an HEV, just bringing the HESS strategy plus the solar energy contribution.
