Wind Farm Lab Test-Bench for Research/Education on Optimum Design and Cooperative Control of Wind Turbines

Abstract

This chapter presents a low-cost, flexible lab test-bench wind farm for advanced research and education on wind turbine and wind farm design and control. The mechanical, electrical, electronic and control system design of the wind turbines, along with the dynamic models, parameters and classical pitch and torque controllers are introduced in detail. Furthermore, the study presents a variety of experiments that (a) quantifies the effect of the number of blades in the aerodynamic efficiency, (b) estimates the generator efficiency, (c) validates the rotor-speed pitch control system, (d) proves the concept of maximum power point tracking for individual wind turbines, (e) estimates the aerodynamic C p /λ characteristics, (f) calculates the power curve, and (g) studies the effect of wind farm topology configurations on the individual and global power efficiency. The experimental results prove that the dynamics of the test-bench corresponds well with full-scale wind turbines. This fact makes the test-bench wind farm appropriate for advanced research and education in wind energy systems.