Analysis of a Control System for DFIG Wind Generators Based on the Transmission of Power References through a GSM Wireless Network: A Smart Grid Experimental Approach

Abstract

This work proposes the use of the automatic Short Message Service (SMS) of a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network to transmit the control information to a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) of a wind turbine, according to the Smart Grid (SG) concept. In the proposed strategy, the Control Center (CC) can remotely transmit the required power references (active and reactive) to the DFIG controller, in order to manage the power generation of the wind turbine dynamically. The proposed wireless network was developed in a Software Defined Radio (SDR) transceiver connected to an OpenBTS platform. The control information can be directly inserted in the Open Base Transceiver Station (OpenBTS) server (located at the CC) or sent by a wireless device (e.g., mobile phone) connected to the GSM network, and then transmitted to the wireless receiver at the wind turbine. The receiver on the turbine side was developed in a microcontroller board with a GSM card, and the DFIG controller was implemented in a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) board. The results of the tests showed that the DFIG can be satisfactorily controlled according to the power references, considering that they vary at low rates.