Research Projects

An efficient and reliable generator-converter architecture can significantly enhance wind energy harvesting. Researchers from both industry and academia have proposed various approaches for connecting wind generators to AC or DC grids. The most commonly used wind generators are DFIG and PMSG. DFIG systems are cost-effective and have smaller power converters. However, they face reliability issues due to brushes, slip rings, and limited fault ride-through capability. In contrast, PMSGs eliminate the need for brushes and slip rings and offer better fault tolerance, but they require a fully rated power converter. This has motivated the investigator to take a hybrid approach combining the benefits of DFIG and PMSG-based wind energy harvesting systems. On the other hand, in modern multi-megawatt wind turbines, a single fully-rated converter impacts the overall system's efficiency, reliability, and availability. That is why the wind energy industry has been exploring multi-phase, multi-port, and open-winding generators, and the investigator is motivated to find out the suitability of these generators, which have more than three winding terminals. The recent successful validation of an integrated generator-rectifier architecture for a wind energy system connected to a DC grid at 150-kW level, which the investigator was a part of, has inspired him to take an integrated approach to design the generator-converter for a wind energy system connected to an AC grid. This project aims to find a highly efficient and reliable generator-converter architecture for wind energy harvesting systems. There are two hypotheses as follows: (1) A hybrid approach to designing the generator and converter for wind energy harvesting systems is more efficient and reliable than the existing ones; (2) A modular, multi-port, multi-terminal, hybrid generator-converter topology for wind energy harvesting systems is more efficient than the existing ones. To test these hypotheses, several dynamic models of the proposed and existing generator-converter configurations will be created using MATLAB/Simulink. A laboratory prototype, including a wind energy emulator, will also be designed and built to validate the effectiveness of the proposed generator-converter architecture. This setup will enable the implementation of advanced control techniques, such as a maximum power point tracking algorithm for the proposed system. Successful completion of this project will lead to the development of a more efficient and reliable generator-converter architecture for wind energy harvesting systems.