A Small Induction Generator Based Grid Connected Wind Turbine Simulator

Iqbal, Tariq (2005) A Small Induction Generator Based Grid Connected Wind Turbine Simulator. In: 15th Annual Newfoundland Electrical and Computer Engineering Conference (NECEC), January, 2005, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Abstract

A number of types of small wind turbines are available in the market. Such wind turbines are primarily designed for isolated operation. The available small wind turbines are based on permanent magnet type generators or field regulated alternators. A common application of such wind turbines is battery charging. Such wind turbines may be connected to the grid using commercially available grid tie inverters, in combination with a charge controller, a battery bank and a dump load. This option is not cost effective mainly because of the high cost of the power electronics, batteries and ongoing maintenance cost of the battery bank. An induction generator based wind turbine that meets all the requirements of the IEEE 1547 standard would be the best low cost option for households. This paper describes the design and development of a drive train and a controller for a small induction generator based wind turbine. The paper focuses on a wind turbine simulator developed to help design and test the proposed induction generator based wind turbine. The wind turbine simulator consists of a Labview based computer controlled DC motor, a three-phase induction generator, instrumentation for voltage, current, torque and speed measurements. The paper describes the first version of the wind turbine controller that is based on speed measurement and a soft starter. System design, initial test results and future directions are described in the paper.

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