Presented at the 40th Universities

Power Engineering Conference,

Cork, 2005

A Low Cost Power-Tracking Controller for a Small Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

M.A. Parker(1), P.J. Tavner(1), L. Ran(1), A. Wilson(2)

(1) Durham University, UK (2) NaREC, UK

ABSTRACT

The paper presents a low cost power electronic solution for a system consisting of a savonius-type wind turbine
with a direct-drive permanent magnet generator, for battery charging applications. The converter increases the
energy capture at low wind speeds and features encoderless peak power tracking capabilities. To reduce cost the
converter only operates at the low speed range, where the generator EMF is less than the battery voltage, above
this the output of the rectifier is directly connected to the battery. The reduction in extracted energy compared to
a converter operating over the full range is small, especially when the average wind speed is low.

INTRODUCTION Table 1 Generator Characteristics

Number of coils 12
In recent years significant attention has been paid to the Number of pole pairs 8
grid connection of small scale renewable energy Coil inductance 4mH
systems [1]. However battery connection still remains Coil resistance 1
important, particularly in remote areas where there is no Maximum current per coil 3A
grid available. Typically, a permanent magnet
synchronous generator producing 3-phase AC is
connected to a rectifier, and the resulting DC voltage
used to charge the battery. At high wind speeds the
fixed battery voltage limits the generator speed, so the
wind turbine operates below the optimum speed for
peak power tracking. At relatively low wind speeds,
which is often the case at many residential locations, the
need to generate sufficient voltage to charge the battery
means that the turbine has to operate above optimum
speed. Power electronics can be used to vary the load
voltage seen by the generator in order for the turbine to
run at the optimum speed, but this can often be
expensive.

Current System
The wind turbine is shown in Figure 1. It will extract
166W in 9m/s wind, and rotating at the optimum speed
of 216RPM. It is a drag-based turbine, so it will
generate torque from rest and can self-start. The
maximum tip speed ratio is low at 1.1, so the turbine
speed does not need to be limited to prevent damage.
The turbine features a large flywheel with a total inertia Figure 1 The Savonius Wind Turbine
of 7.9Nms²/rad.

The generator is of a direct-drive axial-flux design, MODELLING THE SYSTEM

similar to [2] but air cored. There are 12 coils, in 3
phases, and for this application the 4 coils per phase are
connected in parallel. A summary is given in Table 1
below.
The purpose of modelling the system was to find the
most efficient operating point for different wind speeds,
and to calculate the power curve – the curve of power
output against wind speed. For all modelling the
generator was represented as sinusoidal EMFs in series
with inductance and resistance for each phase, with the
EMF being proportional to the rotation speed. The
mechanical power extracted by the turbine is given by
equation 1.
U w 3 ρA
Pmech = C p (1)
2 150.0
where Pmech is the mechanical power extracted, Cp the
turbine coefficient of performance, Uw the wind speed,
A the turbine area and the air density. Cp is a function
of the ratio of the speed of the blade tips to the wind
speed, , and is shown for this turbine in Figure 2.
0.25
Coefficient of performance
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Tip speed ratio
Figure 2 Turbine Cp-Lambda Curve
Modelling was carried out using Simplorer. The
generator model was connected to a 3-phase diode
bridge, with the DC side of the rectifier connected to a
Thevenin-type voltage source to represent the DC load.
The simulation was run for a simulation time of 10s, to
allow the turbine speed to stabilise at the steady state
value, and at the end of the time the power output and
other variables were recorded. This was carried out at
DC voltages between 10V and 100V and wind speeds
between 1 and 20m/s, with a step of 1V and 1m/s
respectively. This required 1820 runs, which were set up
and performed automatically.
The results of the simulations were processed using
Matlab, to smooth out and interpolate the curves. For
each wind speed, the maximum electrical power was
found along with the other parameters at this power.
The electrical power was also calculated for a DC
voltage of 48V, to simulate the effects of connecting the
output of the rectifier directly to the battery.
Simulation Results
The simulated power curve is shown in Figure 3 below.
It can be seen that the battery connection produces a
similar power to the maximum, at wind speeds above
9m/s. Below this speed the turbine needs to turn much
faster than the optimum speed in order to generate
sufficient EMF to charge the batteries. At high wind
speeds the fixed voltage limits the speed of the
generator, resulting in operation below the optimum
rotation speed.
250.0
200.0
Electrical power (W)
100.0
50.0
0.0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Wind speed (m/s)
Maximum power Battery connection
Figure 3 Simulated Power Curve
3. PROPOSED SOLUTION
It can be seen in Figure 3 that a direct battery
connection, as initially proposed, results in a good
tracking of the maximum power curve at wind speeds
1.4 1.6 1.8 above 8m/s. It is only below 8m/s where energy capture
efficiency is low. It is therefore proposed to use a boost-
type DC-DC converter to boost the DC output of the
rectifier at low wind speeds so that the generator will
operate at the optimum speed. Above 8-9m/s the
converter will not switch, and the current will be carried
by the boost diode, which will have to be rated
appropriately. This represents a cost saving over a
converter rated across the entire range as the switching
transistor and smoothing capacitor will have a much
smaller rating and can be significantly cheaper. A
further cost saving is achieved by using the generator
inductance as the inductance in the boost converter. The
system is shown in Figure 4.
IDC
48V
DC
VDC
Figure 4 Proposed System
Peak power tracking algorithm
The best control method would be to set the turbine
rotation speed based on the wind speed, but this requires
measurement of both variables, increasing the cost of
the system. An alternative system, frequently used in
small scale systems, is to assume that the turbine is
rotating at the ideal speed and extract power accordingly
[3]. If the turbine is rotating at less than the ideal speed
then it will speed up towards the ideal, the reverse
occurring if at greater than ideal speed. This is easiest to
implement by controlling the converter to operate at a
fixed I-V relationship. Current and Voltage
measurement points are shown in Figure 4 and the
relationship in Figure 5.
The controller was implemented using a PIC16F876
microcontroller. This is only 8bit and has no
multiplication instructions, but it features a built in The model was simulated for a simulation time of 5
ADC and PWM, and is significantly cheaper than more minutes, for average wind speeds of 5, 7 and 9m/s, and
powerful devices such as a DSP. The I-V curve is for connection with and without the converter and
implemented as a quadratic relationship between V and theoretical maximum power.
I derived from simulations. A learning system could be
implemented to learn the maximum power Results for the 5m/s average wind speed are shown in
characteristic, which could vary over time. An Figure 6 below. Average powers for all three wind
appropriate algorithm is described in [4]. speeds are summarised in Table 2. It can be seen that
the inertia of the turbine prevents it tracking the ideal
rotation speed as this varies too quickly. However it can
4. TESTING AND EVALUATON be seen in Table 2 that the extracted power is only
slightly less than the maximum power, and it is also
The generator and power converter were tested in the much more constant.
laboratory to verify the operation of the I-V control
system. The generator was driven at different speeds by Table 2 Simulated Power Extraction
a motor, and for each speed the average current and Average power (W)
voltage at the DC side of the rectifier were recorded and 5m/s 7m/s 9m/s
compared with the desired relationship. The results are wind wind wind
shown in Figure 5. Maximum 27.9 74.7 162.4
Connection through 25.6 71.5 157.3
3.5
converter
3
Direct connection 8.2 64.2 157.2
2.5
DC Current

2
Estimated Annual Energy Capture
1.5
The probability distribution of wind speeds can be
1 calculated using a Rayleigh distribution. The probability
0.5 that the wind speed is greater than a value U is given by
0 equation 2 below:
10 20 30 40 50 2
−π U
Smoothed DC Voltage
F (U ) = exp (2)
Measured Idc Desired Idc 4 U
Figure 5 I-V control testing
where U is the average wind speed. From this the
Simulation of Complete System probability distribution can be calculated, and this is
Due to a savonius turbine being unavailable for testing, multiplied by the power curves shown in Figure 3 in
the efficiency of the tracking algorithm had to be order to obtain the power density. The power density for
simulated. This was carried out using Simulink, and the an average wind speed of 5m/s (typical in the Durham
SimPowerSystems block set To keep the simulation area [5]) is shown in Figure 7 below. The total annual
time down, the DC-DC converter was not simulated, extraction for several wind speeds is shown in Table 3
and was instead represented as a thevenin source as in and a comparison of the partially rated converter and
the earlier simulation. The voltage of the source was battery connection in Table 4.The power curves assume
varied in the same way as the duty cycle of the the turbine can react instantly to changes in the wind
converter in the actual implementation. Wind speed data speed.
was generated randomly in Matlab, using a recognised
technique, and read from a table in the Simulink model.

Figure 6 Power Tracking at 5m/s Wind Speed

 Table 3 Annual Energy Capture
Average wind Annual energy capture (kWh)
speed (m/s) Battery Part Converter Full Converter Maximum
5 371 451 453 454
6 690 762 771 779
7 1083 1144 1168 1229
9 1848 1891 1954 2520

8 • A partially rated converter can extract a similar

7 level of energy to a fully rated converter at low
6 wind speeds, and is cheaper.
Power Density (W)

5 • The generator design is significant as it affects the

4 wind speed at which the converter cuts out. A
3 higher cut out speed will result in better
2 performance at high wind speeds but also a more
1 expensive converter.
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Wind Speed
REFERENCES
Maximum Converter Battery

Figure 7 Energy Capture at 5m/s Wind speed 1. F. Blaabjerg, Z. Chen, S. Baekhoej Kjaer, Power
Electronics as Efficient Interface in Dispersed Power
It can be seen that energy capture is improved at low Generation Systems, IEEE Trans. Power Electronics,
average wind speeds, although the result is less Vol.19, No.5, pp.1184-1194, 2004.
significant at higher speeds. At higher wind speeds there
is a significant difference between the extracted energy 2. J.R. Bumby, R. Martin, M.A Mueller, E. Spooner,
with a converter and the theoretical maximum. This is N.L. Brown, B.J. Chalmers, Electromagnetic design of
mostly due to the generator being cut out above 18m/s axial-flux permanent magnet machines, IEE Proc.-
wind speed. The fully rated converter improves on the Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 151, No. 2, pp. 151-160,
energy capture further, especially at higher average March 2004.
wind speeds. However this will significantly increase
the cost. 3. H. Polinder, G.J.W. van Bussel, M.R. Dubois,
Design of a PM generator for the Turby, a wind turbine
Table 4 Converter vs. Battery Connection for the built environment, Int. Conf. ICEM, pp. 432–
Average Partially rated converter 438, Cracow, Poland, Sept 2004.
wind speed Increase over Percentage
(m/s) battery (kWh) increase 4. Q. Wang, L. Chang, An Intelligent Maximum
5 80 21.6% Power Extraction Algorithm for Inverter-Based
6 72 10.4% Variable Speed Wind Turbine Systems, IEEE Trans.
7 61 5.6% Power Electronics, Vol.19, No.5, pp.1242-1249, 2004.
9 43 2.3%
5. DTI wind speed database, at:
http://www4.dti.gov.uk/energy/renewables/technologies
CONCLUSIONS /windspeed

This work has shown the following:

• A low cost power tracking converter has been AUTHOR’S ADDRESS
designed to operate with an axial flux permanent
magnet generator driven by a Savonius Wind The first author can be contacted at
Turbine.
• The converter allows more energy to be extracted School of Engineering,
from the wind than a simple passive rectifier. University of Durham,
• The energy saving depends on the wind resource South Road,
and therefore the turbine site but is greater at lower Durham,
wind speeds. UK,
• A power tracking controller does not necessarily DH1 3LE
increase the cost of a wind turbine converter.
Email max.parker@durham.ac.uk