Control design and experimental verification of a series compensated 50 kW permanent magnet wind power generator

The increase in converter rating when going to permanent magnet generators for wind power turbines motivates the search for low loss and compact power electronic solutions. Previous investigations show that by using a combination of a diode bridge rectifier and an active series compensation device, the losses can be reduced. This paper investigates the control issues of this concept further. By applying appropriate control modes, the size of the dc-dc chopper can be reduced with 50 percent. A control method when using an active series compensator called magnetic energy recover switch is demonstrated. Small scale experiments verify the control concepts without the use of rotary encoder. Simulations show that maximum power point tracking can be achieved with simple control. Potential for implementing active drive train damping is also indicated.