Performance evaluation of a small scale variable speed marine current energy conversion system

Marine current has always been considered as a potential abundant source of energy. The design of small autonomous variable speed marine current energy conversion systems (MCECS) has been always a big engineering challenge. This paper presents the design, and control of a variable speed MCECS. A laboratory prototype of a small scale MCECS was developed and tested in a wave tank. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control strategy was used for the proposed variable speed system to extract maximum power. Digital signal processing board DS1104 was used to implement the MPPT control algorithm for operating the system at variable flow speeds. Detailed experimental test results are presented in this paper.