Study on an alternative converter performance for Switched Reluctance Generator

The subject of this paper is an alternative converter for switched reluctance generators (SRG) and its applications. The performance of the conventional half-bridge converter is compared with the performance of this alternative one. In both cases the machine is excited by a rectified DC link. Mathematical model and simulation results are presented. Both the power converters topologies implemented worked well but the alternative converter is cheaper and more efficient than the conventional half-bridge converter. Furthermore, only the alternative converter allows feed the load from the grid even when the SRG is not running. This is good for an unstable renewable complementary power source like wind power. Also this kind of machine can be competitive for small hydropower plants where the power electronics is necessary to control the output voltage under not constant water flux conditions. Experimental results are presented. It is shown here that the SRG worked as expected and that the alternative converter topology reached expectations.