Abstract

Transportation is a major sector which contributes to pollution at a global level. And, road transportation is the biggest source of pollution under the transportation sector. The prevailing global energy and climate conditions clearly suggest that less polluting vehicles must be used for transportation to curb carbon and other harmful emissions like SOX and NOX. An Electric Vehicle (EV) is a good option to combat pollution but its driving range is low. Thus, a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is a well-suited option in this regard as it produces low tailpipe emissions and provides a long driving range. Integration of a solar panel with the on-board battery bank to power a HEV helps further in this regard as solar energy is a renewable form of energy. In this paper a solar assisted HEV is analyzed for speed control using a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). The FLC performs throttle control of the Internal Combustion (IC) engine and torque control of a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) drive to achieve the control of speed of the HEV. The modelling and validation of results through simulations is carried out using the software package MATLAB/Simulink.