Electrical Control Systems and Invertor Development for a 10kW Wind Turbine

Due to the growing energy needs of the world and the environmental impacts of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are being investigated and implemented to provide an alternative power source from fossil fuels. Wind power generation is one source which has gained momentum in providing power to the electrical grid, with Australia adding 245MW of wind capacity in 2017 (Global Wind Energy Council, 2018). This project proposal aims to improve the existing control system of an operational Camira Energy 10kW wind turbine, through defining a new physical control system to align the performance required to actual hardware cost, implement a refined control system, such as a Proportional Integral (PI) or Fussy Logic (FL) controller in conjunction with a Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithm to replace the existing table lookup control system, provide additional control safety features within the operational objectives and investigate and report on a new approach for power conversion from the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) to the Power Grid (PG). The existing Beckhoff PLC will be the subject of replacement to a cost-effective model which will provide for current functions along with additional functional outcomes from the dissertation. The control system will be refined to provide a varied power flow through the power conversion which will control the rotor angular velocity. It is proposed to conduct this through the DC - DC converter. Industrial inverters are to be research to identify appropriate models based on their functionality. This dissertation will investigate models with electronic converters such as a rectifier-based buck/boost converter and a Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) converter. This dissertation proposes to define hardware and software to provide a cost-effective control system with a high degree of performance