A novel Wind Energy Conversion System with power quality improvement features

This paper focuses on design and simulation of a novel small scale Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) based on Permanent Magnet Generators (PMGs) and power electronic converters. Electric power is generated using a PMG whose output is having variable magnitude and variable frequency due to non-uniform wind velocity. In the proposed system output of PMG is converted to constant DC using a full bridge rectifier and closed loop boost converter. This constant DC output is converted to AC using Three Bridge Four Wire (TBFW) interfacing inverter. One of the most common problems when connecting small renewable energy systems to the electric grid concerns the interface unit between the power sources and the grid, as it can inject harmonic components that may deteriorate the power quality. The TBFW inverter can perform as a conventional inverter as well as an active power filter by means of hysteresis current controller. The inverter can thus be utilized as a power converter injecting power generated from renewable energy source to the grid and as a shunt active power filter to compensate for power quality disturbances and load reactive power demand. Validation of the proposed system is verified through MATLAB/Simulink simulation.