Design and Experimental Verification of PUC Multilevel Inverter-Based PMSG Wind Energy Conversion System

Abstract

In this study, a wind energy conversion system is designed using a three-phase permanent magnet synchronous generator, a six-diode bridge rectifier, a DC–DC boost converter, an inverter, and a load. The proposed inverter is a Packed U-Cell-based multilevel inverter having five or seven voltage levels at the output. It is also a topology that is not widely used in wind energy applications. Furthermore, a dual-mode PI-PI control technique is proposed to regulate the auxiliary capacitor voltage in the PUC MLI. The inverter is designed and simulated for a permanent magnet synchronous generator-based variable speed wind energy conversion system. Additionally, the design and experimental application of the proposed system is carried out in a laboratory environment. In the experimental application, the rated voltage of the Packed U-Cell multilevel inverter is chosen as 45 V. The switching frequency of the multilevel inverter is set to 4 kHz, and a generator with rated power of 700 W is selected. The output voltage of the generator is varied between 25 V and 35 V through an induction motor. This varying voltage is increased to 45 V using a DC–DC boost converter. Finally, it is observed that the power generated by the permanent magnet synchronous generator is successfully transferred to the load and the designed system operates with low harmonic content.