MPPT and control design of a Vienna rectifier-based low power wind turbine with reduced number of sensors

Abstract

Low power wind turbines (LPWT) are an interesting option for distributed generation. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) procedures for LPWT are either based on look-up tables or use an algorithm. This paper proposes an MPPT algorithm for wind energy analogous to that of the incremental inductance for solar energy. The Vienna rectifier is an efficient non-regenerative power converter with only three switching devices and its use for LPWT can be advantageous. The permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) is a common option for LPWT because of its efficiency. This manuscript explains the sensorless vector control of PMSG using the Vienna rectifier, which results to be analogous to that of the traditional full bridge converter for unity power factor. In addition, the unbalanced voltage in the Vienna rectifier capacitors is derived from the modulation indexes without requiring an additional sensor. Hence, the resulting LPWT has low losses by virtue of the Vienna rectifier, and lower cost and higher reliability by virtue of the sensorless vector control and unbalance voltage estimation. Simulation results validate the proposals of the paper.