Integrated Doubly Fed Electric Alternator/Active Filter (IDEA), a Viable Power Quality Solution, for Wind Energy Conversion Systems

In response to electric energy crisis and power quality concerns, a simple and low-cost variable speed integrated doubly fed electric alternator/active filter (IDEA) for wind energy conversion systems is proposed. The proposed IDEA is capable of simultaneously capturing maximum power of wind energy with fluctuating wind speed and improving power quality, which are achieved by canceling the most significant and troublesome harmonics of the utility grid. Power factor correction and reactive power control are the other two significant features of the proposed technology. The back-to-back current-regulated power converters are employed to excite the rotor of IDEA. The control strategy of rotor side power converter is based on position sensorless field oriented control method with higher power density. A laboratory prototype has been fabricated and tested, and a TMS3202407 DSP-based controller has been used to control the back-to-back power converters. Analysis and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed integrated IDEA.