Maximum power point tracking of wind turbine using switched reluctance generator

A wind turbine emulator is constructed using a three phase induction motor and a vector controlled drive operating in torque control mode. A switched reluctance machine, acting as a generator, operates in speed control mode and applies braking torque on the emulated wind turbine. Maximum power point tracking is achieved using Hill-Climbing method by perturbing the speed of the switched reluctance generator in the direction of increased generated power. Outer speed loop using proportional-integral controller generates the current reference for the inner current control loop. Hysteresis current control using a combination of both hard and soft-chopping is used to control the switched reluctance generator phase current. Initial excitation is provided by low voltage dc source and the required generation bus dc voltage is built-up by self excitation. A chopper controlled dump load is used to maintain the output dc voltage at required value. The system is implemented using IGBT switches and DSP control.