University of Tasmania, Australia

Sensorless Control Strategy for Maximum Power Extraction from a Gearless Variable Speed Wind Turbine with Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator

Recently, Permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) has received much attention in wind energy application because of several advantages such as gearless operation (low cost), higher efficiency, higher power density, lower losses, less maintenance, smaller size compared to conventional generator. The wind generators are designed to simply capture the wind power, but do not intend to produce the maximum power unless it is controlled properly. Therefore, a control mechanism is required to capture maximum power from the fluctuating wind. The overall system cost can be reduced by optimal control of power converters to extract maximum power in accordance with the wind conditions. Over the years, different techniques for maximum power extraction have been proposed for variable speed wind turbine. Some of these control strategies use wind velocity to obtain the desired shaft speed to vary the generator speed. However, anemometer based control strategy increases cost and reduce the reliability of the overall system. A more sophisticated sensorless control strategy without using any wind or speed sensor can improve the efficiency and reliability of the wind energy system.

This project aims to develop a sensorless control strategy for maximum power extraction using a PMSG to increase the energy efficiency and reliability of wind energy generation system. The control algorithm will be implemented in software using a real time DSP (digital signal processor) thereby reducing the system cost and increase the reliability of the system. The project works include: control algorithm development, computer modeling and simulation, and hardware implementation using DSP/microcontroller.