Photovoltaic Power Conversion System as a Reserve Power Source to a Modern Elevator

The main objective of this paper is to integrate a green source in the safety system of a modern elevator. In order to drive the elevator with 480 kg maximum load 1 kW induction motor is chosen. The sunlight through photovoltaic panels is converted into electricity. To ensure a continuous energy, an energy storage system is inserted in the power conversion system. The extracted energy is maximized by using the maximum power point tracking methods. A comparative analysis of these methods is presented. In order to size the necessary photovoltaic panels the potential of the local solar power is taken into account, i.e. the solar potential of Galati city, located in south-eastern region of Romania. In order to ensure a constant voltage the DC-DC power converter is inserted. The constant DC link voltage is used by the power inverter in order to supply the induction machine. The obtained numerical results confirm the feasibility of the solution.