Modeling and control of household-size vertical axis wind turbine and electric power generation system

Abstract

This paper discusses the design of a low tip-speed ratio, drag type vertical axis wind turbine which is incorporated with permanent magnet synchronous generator with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) strategy of control system to acquire the optimal performance. By using two dimensional large eddy simulations (LES) method as fluid dynamic model, the calculated power coefficient for this multi-blade vertical axis wind turbine may reach 0.34 at tip speed ratio (TSR) ranging from 0.8 to 1.0. Also, with the aids of simulation results, a direct coupled permanent magnet synchronous generator with 64-poles is designed and fabricated to generate 1.5 kW rated power at 90 rpm in 12 m/s wind speed. By changing the shape of magnet and applying approximate-skew method as stepped magnet configuration, the cogging torque and noise level of generator can be minimized. Moreover, MPPT control system with low current harmonic distortion level is designed to transfer energy into power grid with estimated 92% of power efficiency. Consequently, by eliminating gearbox system, low start-up wind speed, low current harmonic distortion and low cogging torque, the proposed of low acoustic/noise level wind turbine generator system can be applied for urban-environmental usage.