The Impact of Tower Shadow, Yaw Error, and Wind Shears on Power Quality in a Wind–Diesel System

To study the impact of aerodynamic aspects of a wind turbine (WT) (i.e., tower shadow, wind shears, yaw error, and turbulence) on the power quality of a wind-diesel system, all electrical, mechanical, and aerodynamic aspects of the WT must be studied. Moreover, the contribution of the diesel generator system and its controllers should be considered. This paper describes how the aerodynamic and mechanical aspects of a WT can be simulated using TurbSim, AeroDyn, and FAST where the electrical parts of WT, diesel generator, its controllers, and electrical loads are modeled by Simulink blocks. Simulation results obtained from the model are used to observe the power and voltage variations at the WT generator terminals under different operating conditions. Furthermore, the effects of tower shadow, wind shears, yaw error, and turbulence on the power quality in a stand-alone wind-diesel system utilizing a fixed-speed WT are studied.