INTRODUCTION

Wind generator
A wind generator is a device that generates electrical power from wind energy. Wind generators have traditionally been wind turbines, i.e. a propeller attached to an electric generator attached to appropriate electronics to attach it to the electrical grid or to charge batteries A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or pumping water, the device is called a windmill or wind pump. Developed for over a millennium, today's wind turbines are manufactured in a range of vertical and horizontal axis types. The smallest turbines are used for applications such as battery charging or auxiliary power on sailing boats; while large grid-connected arrays of turbines are becoming an increasingly large source of commercial electric power.

1 WIND ELECTRICITY GENERATION

1.1 About Wind Power
Wind power technology dates back many centuries. There are historical claims that wind Machines which harness the power of the wind date back beyond the time of the ancient Egyptians. Hero of Alexandria used a simple windmill to power an organ whilst the Babylonian emperor, Hammurabi, used windmills for an ambitious irrigation project as early as the 17th century BC. The Persians built windmills in the 7th century AD for milling and irrigation and rustic mills similar to these early vertical axis designs can still be found in the region today. In Europe the first windmills were seen much later, probably having been introduced by the English on their return from the crusades in the middle east or possibly transferred to Southern Europe by the Muslims after their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.It was in Europe that much of the subsequent technical development took place. By the late part of the 13th century the typical European windmill had been developed and this became the norm until further developments were introduced during the 18th century. At the end of the 19th century there were more than 30,000 windmills in Europe, used primarily for the milling of grain and water pumping.

1.2 Modern wind generators

The first wind powered electricity was produced by a machine built by Charles F. Brush in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888. It had a rated power of 12 kW (direct current - dc). Direct current electricity production continued in the form of smallscale, stand-alone (not connected to a grid) systems until the 1930's when the first large scale AC turbine was constructed in the USA. There was then a general lull in interest until the 1970's when the fuel crises sparked a revival in research and development work in North America (USA and Canada) and Europe (Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK). Modern wind turbine generators are highly sophisticated machines, taking full advantage of state-of-the-art technology, led by improvements in aerodynamic and structural design, materials technology and mechanical, electrical and control engineering and capable of producing several megawatts of electricity. During the 1980's installed capacity costs dropped considerably and windpower has become an economically attractive option for commercial electricity generation. Large wind farms or wind power stations have become a common sight in many western countries. In 2001 Denmark alone had 2000 Megawatts of electricity generating capacity from more than 5,700 wind turbines, representing 14% of their national electricity consumption (Source:www.windpower.dk). Wind is a clean, safe, renewable form of energy.

1.3 Wind generation for developing countries

Unlike the trend toward large-scale grid connected wind turbines seen in the West, the more immediate demand for rural energy supply in developing countries is for smaller machines in the 5 - 100 kW range. These can be connected to small, localised micro-grid systems and used in conjunction with diesel generating sets and/or solar photovoltaic systems (see hybrid systems section later in this fact sheet). Currently, the use of wind power for electricity production in developing countries is limited, the main area of growth being for very small battery charging wind turbines (50 - 150 Watts). In Inner Mongolia there are over 30,000 such machines used by
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herders for providing power for lighting, televisions, radios, etc. (Spera 1994). Other applications for small wind machines include water pumping, telecommunications power supply and irrigation.

2 Technical
2.1 The power in the wind
The wind systems that exist over the earths surface are a result of variations in air pressure. These are in turn due to the variations in solar heating. Warm air rises and cooler air rushes in to take its place. Wind is merely the movement of air from one place to another. There are global wind patterns related to large scale solar heating of different regions of the earths surface and seasonal variations in solar incidence. There are also localized wind patterns due the effects of temperature differences between land and seas, or mountains and valleys. Wind speed generally increases with height above ground. This is because the roughness of ground features such as vegetation and houses cause the wind to be slowed. Wind speed data can be obtained from wind maps or from the meteorology office. Unfortunately the general availability and reliability of wind speed data is extremely poor in many regions of the world. However, significant areas of the world have mean annual wind speeds of above 4-5 m/s (meters per second) which makes small-scale wind powered electricity generation an attractive option. It is important to obtain accurate wind speed data for the site in mind before any decision can be made as to its suitability. Methods for assessing the mean wind speed are found in the relevant texts (see the References and resources section at the end of this fact sheet). The power in the wind is proportional to: the area of windmill being swept by the wind the cube of the wind speed the air density - which varies with altitude The formula used for calculating the power in the wind is shown below: Power = density of air x swept area x velocity cubed P = ..A.V3 where, P is power in watts (W) is the air density in kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m3) A is the swept rotor area in square metres (m2) Wind for electricity generation Practical Action V is the windspeed in metres per second (m/s) The fact that the power is proportional to the cube of the windspeed is very significant. This can be demonstrated by pointing out that if the wind speed doubles then the power in the wind increases by a factor of eight. It is therefore worthwhile finding a site which has a relatively high mean windspeed.

2.2 Wind into watts

Although the power equation above gives us the power in the wind, the actual power that we can extract from the wind is significantly less than this figure suggests. The actual power will depend on several factors, such as the type of machine and rotor used the sophistication of blade design, friction losses, and the losses in the pump or other equipment connected to the wind machine. There are also physical limits to the amount of power that can be extracted realistically from the wind. It can be shown theoretically that any windmill can only possibly extract a maximum of 59.3% of the power from the wind (this is known as the Betz limit). In reality, this
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figure is usually around 45% (maximum) for a large electricity producing turbine and around 30% to 40% for a wind pump, (see the section on coefficient of performance below). So, modifying the formula for Power in the wind we can say that the power which is produced by the wind machine can be given by: PM = .Cp..A.V3 Where, PM is power (in watts) available from the machine Cp is the coefficient of performance of the wind machine It is also worth bearing in mind that a wind machine will only operate at its maximum efficiency for a fraction of the time it is running, due to variations in wind speed. A rough estimate of the output from a wind machine can be obtained using the following equation; PA = 0.2 A V3 where, PA is the average power output in watts over the year V is the mean annual windspeed in m/s

2.3 Principles of wind energy conversion

There are two primary physical principles by which energy can be extracted from the wind; these are through the creation of either lift or drag force (or through a combination of the two). The difference between drag and lift is illustrated by the difference between using a spinnaker sail, which fills like a parachute and pulls a sailing boat with the wind, and a Bermuda rig, the familiar triangular sail which deflects with wind and allows a sailing boat to travel across the wind or slightly into the wind. Drag forces provide the most obvious means of propulsion, these being the forces felt by a person (or object) exposed to the wind. Lift forces are the most efficient means of propulsion but being more subtle than drag forces are not so well understood. The basic features that characterise lift and drag are: drag is in the direction of air flow lift is perpendicular to the direction of air flow generation of lift always causes a certain amount of drag to be developed with a good aerofoil, the lift produced can be more than thirty times greater than the drag lift devices are generally more efficient than drag devices

2.4 Types and characteristics of rotors

There are two main families of wind machines: vertical axis machines and horizontal axis Wind for electricity generation. These can in turn use either lift or drag forces to harness the wind. The horizontal axis lift device is the type most commonly used. In fact other than a few experimental machines virtually all windmills come under this category. There are several technical parameters that are used to characterize windmill rotors. The tip speed ratio is defined as the ratio of the speed of the extremities of a windmill rotor to the speed of the free wind. Drag devices always have tip-speed ratios less than one and hence turn slowly, whereas lift devices can have high tip-speed ratios (up to 13:1) and hence turn quickly relative to the wind. The proportion of the power in the wind that the rotor can extract is termed the coefficient of performance (or power coefficient or efficiency; symbol Cp) and its variation as a function of tip-speed ratio is commonly used to characterize different types of rotor. As
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mentioned earlier there is an upper limit of Cp = 59.3%, although in practice real wind rotors have maximum Cp values in the range of 25%-45%.Solidity is usually defined as the percentage of the area of the rotor, which contains material rather than air. Low-solidity machines run at higher speed and tend to be used for electricity generation. High-solidity machines carry a lot of material and have coarse blade angles. They generate much higher starting torque (torque is the twisting or rotary force produced by the rotor) than low-solidity machines but are inherently less efficient than low-solidity machines. The windpump is generally of this type. High solidity machines will have a low tip-speed ratioand vice versa. There are various important wind speeds to consider: Start-up wind speed - the wind speed that will turn an unloaded rotor Cut-in wind speed the wind speed at which the rotor can be loaded Rated wind speed the windspeed at which the machine is designed to run(this is at optimum tip-speed ratio) Furling wind speed the windspeed at which the machine will be turned out of the wind to prevent damage Maximum design wind speed the windspeed above which damage could occur to the machine The choice of rotor is dictated largely by the characteristic of the load and hence of the end use. Some common rotor types and their characteristics are shown in Table 2 below. Type Speed Torque Cp Solidity (%) Use Horizontal Axis Multi blade Low High 0.25 - 0.4 50 - 80 Mechanical Power Three-bladed aerofoil High Low up to 0.45 Less than 5 Electricity Production Vertical Axis Panemone Low Medium less than 0.1 50 Mechanical Power Darrieus Moderate Very low 0.25 - 0.35 10 - 20 Electricity Production Table 2: Comparison of Rotor Types

2.5 Anatomy and characteristics of the wind generator

A typical small wind generator has rotor that is directly coupled to the generator which produces electricity either at 120/240 volt alternating current for direct domestic use or at 12/24 volt direct current for battery charging. Larger machines generate 3 phase electricity. There is often a tail vane which keeps the rotor orientated into the wind. Some windmachines have a tail vane which is designed for automatic furling (turning the machine out of the wind) at high wind speeds to prevent damage. Larger machines have pitch controlled blades (the angle at which the blades meet the wind is controlled) which achieve the same function. The tower is of low solidity to prevent wind interference and are often guyed to give support to the tower.

2.6 Grid connected or battery charging

Depending on the circumstances, the distribution of electricity from a wind machine can be carried out in one of various ways. Commonly, larger machines are connected to a grid distribution network. This can be the main national network, in which case electricity can be sold to the electricity utility (providing an agreement can be made between the producer and the grid) when an excess is produced and purchased when the wind is low. Using the national grid helps provide flexibility to the system and does away with the need for a back-up system when windspeeds are low. Micro-grids distribute electricity to smaller areas, typically a village or town. When wind is used for supplying electricity to such a grid, a diesel generator set is often used as a backupfor the periods when windspeeds are low. Alternatively, electricity storage can be used but this is an expensive option. Hybrid systems use a combination of two or more energy sources to provide electricity in all weather conditions. The capital cost for such a system is high but subsequent running costs will be low compared with a pure diesel system. In areas where households are widely dispersed or where grid costs are prohibitively expensive, battery charging is an option. For people in rural areas a few tens of watts of power are sufficient for providing lighting and a source of power for a radio or television. Batteries can be returned to the charging station occasionally for recharging. This reduces the inconvenience of an intermittent supply due to fluctuating windspeeds. 12 and 24 volt direct current wind generators are commercially available which are suitable for battery charging applications. Smaller turbines (50 -150 watt) are available for individual household

3 Other issues

Environmental concerns

Wind power is a clean renewable energy source. There are, however some environmental considerations to keep in mind when planning a wind power scheme. They include the following: Electromagnetic interference - some television frequency bands are susceptible to Interference from wind generators. Noise - wind rotors, gearboxes and generators create acoustic noise when functioning; this needs to be considered when sating a machine. Visual impact - modern wind machines are large objects and have a significant visual impact on their surroundings. Some argue that it is a positive visual impact, others to the contrary.

Cost - economics
The cost of producing electricity form the wind is heavily dependent on the local wind regime. As mentioned earlier the power output from the wind machine is proportional to cube of the windspeed and so a slight increase in windspeed will mean a significant increase in power and a subsequent reduction in unit costs. Capital costs for windpower are high, but running costs are low and so access to initial funds, subsidies or low interest loans are an obvious advantage when considering a wind-electric system. If a hybrid system is used a careful cost-benefit analysis needs to be carried out. A careful matching of the load and energy supply options should be made to maximise the use of the power from the wind - a load which accepts a variable input is ideally matched to the intermittent nature of windpower.

 Local manufacture
Local production of existing designs is a far simpler process to get started than development ofnew machines, and can be carried out in many developing countries. The production of small and medium sized machines locally is a great deal cheaper than imported machines and, during the production process, it enables manufacturers to make minor modifications in order to match systems with desired end-uses and to the conditions under which they are expected to operate. Depending on the availability of materials, rotor blades can be made locally from laminated wood, steel, plastics or combinations of these materials, whilst some of the machinery components can be made by small engineering workshops. Other parts, including special bearings, gearboxes, generators and other electrical equipment may have to be imported if they are not available in the country of assembly. Towers can be made of welded steel, preferably galvanized, which can be manufactured in many local engineering works, whilst the foundations can be cast from reinforced concrete on site. Source: Renewable Energy Technologies, IT Publications, 1991.

4 Wind generator
A wind generator is a device that generates electrical power from wind energy. Wind generators have traditionally been wind turbines, i.e. a propeller attached to an electric generator attached to appropriate electronics to attach it to the electrical grid or to charge batteries.

Fig 4.1 Wind generators outside Post, Texas

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Recently, however, a reciprocating non-turbine wind generator, the Windbelt, has been invented. It promises to reduce the cost for generating small amounts of power tenfold. Wind generators have become very popular lately as a means to generate power for your home. Large installations of wind generators can run entire towns. Small installations can be built for as low as US$100 reusing material. The plans can be found freely available on the web.Wind generators come in many different sizes and shapes from vertical models, horizontal and even rooftop models.

Fig 4.2 Wind Generator

1-2 LOW WIND ZONE 3-5 MEDIUM ZONE 6-7 HIGH WIND ZONE Wind generators are used for battery charging, AC utility intertie, water or space heating and direct motor drive for water pumping. A typical system would have the wind generator on a tall tower(tilt-up, self-supporting, pipe or lattice), battery bank for storage, inverter to change DC to 120 volt AC. Depending on the type and size of inverter and wind system, the inverter can power all the loads, part of the loads or sell the surplus back to the utility company. Outputs will vary with wind speed, turbulence, blade diameter and generator size. An average wind speed of 8mph or more is recommended for a battery charging system and 12 mph or more for a utility intertie system. Most wind generators will begin producing power at 7-10 mph and will reach full output at 25-30 mph. Air density will influence output. Hot temperatures or higher altitude lowers air density, which lowers power generated. Reduce expected output about 3% per 1000' above sea level. Wind generators are mounted at least 30' above nearby trees and buildings within a 300' radius. Tilt-up towers are nice because no climbing is needed. A wind generator,
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PV modules and Hydro electric unit can all be used to charge the same battery . The wind often blows on cloudy days when solar electric modules have low or no output.

Fig 4.3 Internal Structure of turbine Types of Wind Generators

Wind Turbines convert kinetic energy to mechanical energy. This converted energy, when utilized to produce electric power, it is termed a wind generator or wind charger. When it is made to make machinery move, then it is termed a windmill or wind pump. There are three basic types: the towered Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT), the Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) Savonius, and the VAWT Darrieus. The distinction between HAWTs and VAWTs is the direction of the axis from which the blades rotate. The latter is more frequently used and has been around for a longer time. The particular characteristic of HAWTs is that they have the electric generator and rotor shaft located on top of their tower, and pointed to the wind. Wind vanes help point small wind turbines, while wind sensors with servo motors do it for larger turbines. A gearbox accelerates the blade's slow turning to a more suitable speed needed to power an electric generator. The positioning of HAWTs are most commonly upwind relative to their towers, since towers create turbulence as wind passes through them. Blades are usually stiff in order to prevent being pushed into the tower. In addition, the placement of the blades is made at a considerable distance from the tower. Sometimes, they are tilted a small measure forward onto the direction of the wind. Turbines pointed downwards have been constructed so that they would not need any additional mechanism to keep them in line with the direction of the wind. They are also capable of bending backward, to reduce the swept area and thus reduce wind
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resistance. Many HAWTs are designed upwind to avoid Fatigue (material) failures caused by repetitive turbulence. Blades of commercial wind farms are usually three-bladed and have motors controlled by computers to point them to the wind. They usually employ a gear box to step up the generator speed. Models capable of variable speed can collect more energy compared to types that have constant speed. VAWTs on the other hand, have vertically positioned main rotor shafts. This is advantageous in the sense that there is no need to point the turbine to the wind in order to collect energy. Thus, this kind of wind turbine is commonly used in places with highly variable wind directions, such as in sites with buildings. These kinds of sites usually have lower wind speeds. As for disadvantages, their rotational speed is low, thus having a higher Torque and consequently a higher drive train. There is then a lower coefficient of power. With VAWTs, there is a higher difficulty in modeling the flow of the wind, and this adds challenge to the analysis and design of their rotor. VAWTs, can have their gearbox and the generator located near ground level, giving better accessibility for repair and maintenance activities. The Parallel turbine is a VAWT which is similar to a Crossflow_fan. The Darrieus wind turbine or the socalled eggbeater turbine are highly efficient but are not too reliable due to an inherent defect in design. The Giromill is a subtype of the Darrieus turbine, having straight instead of the Darrieus' curved blades. There is also a cycloturbine variety. Other types include twisted Savonius turbines. Some unconventional wind turbines include turbines with an observation deck and airborne turbines. Ram turbines are attached to aircraft to give it power to essential systems in cases of engine or power failures. All these varied forms have their inherent advantages and disadvantages.

Fig 4.4 Horizontal axis Wind mill

There are mainly two types of generators which uses in wind power I. II. Induction generator and Synchronous generator

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4.1

Induction generator

An induction generator or asynchronous generator is a type of AC electrical generator that uses the principles of induction motors to produce power. Induction generators operate by mechanically turning their rotor in generator mode, giving negative slip. In most cases, a regular AC asynchronous motor is used as a generator, without any internal modifications

4.1.1 Principle of operation

Induction generators and motors produce electrical power when their rotor is turned faster than the synchronous frequency. For a typical four-pole motor (two pairs of poles on stator) operating on a 60 Hz electrical grid, synchronous speed is 1800 rotations per minute. The same four-pole motor operating on a 50 Hz grid will have a synchronous speed of 1500 RPM. In normal motor operation, stator flux rotation is faster than the rotor rotation. This causes the stator flux to induce rotor currents, which create a rotor flux with magnetic polarity opposite to stator. In this way, the rotor is dragged along behind stator flux, at a value equal to the slip. In generator operation, a prime mover (turbine, engine) drives the rotor above the synchronous speed. The stator flux still induces currents in the rotor, but since the opposing rotor flux is now cutting the stator coils, an active current is produced in stator coils, and the motor now operates as a generator, sending power back to the electrical grid

4.1.2 Excitation

Fig 4.5 Equivalent circuit of induction generator Note that a source of excitation current for magnetizing flux (reactive power) for stator is still required, to induce rotor current. Induction generators are not, in general, self-exciting, meaning they require an electrical supply, at least initially, to produce the rotating magnetic flux (although in practice an induction generator will often self start due to residual magnetism.) The electrical supply can be supplied
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from the electrical grid or, once it starts producing power, from the generator itself. The rotating magnetic flux from the stator induces currents in the rotor, which also produces a magnetic field. If the rotor turns slower than the rate of the rotating flux, the machine acts like an induction motor. If the rotor is turned faster, it acts like a generator, producing power at the synchronous frequency.

4.1.3 Active power

Active power delivered to the line is proportional to slip above the synchronous speed. Full rated power of the generator is reached at very small slip values (motor dependent, typically 3%). At synchronous speed of 1800 rpm, generator will produce no power. When the driving speed is increased to 1860 rpm, full output power is produced. If the prime mover is unable to produce enough power to fully drive the generator, speed will remain somewhere between 1800 and 1860 rpm range.

4.1.4 Required capacitance

A capacitor bank must supply reactive power to the motor when used in stand-alone mode. The reactive power supplied should be equal or greater than the reactive power that the machine normally draws when operating as a motor. Terminal voltage will increase with capacitance, but is limited by iron saturation.

4.1.5 Grid and stand-alone connections

FIG. 4.6 Grid and stand alone connection

In induction generators the magnetizing flux is established by a capacitor bank connected to the machine in case of stand alone system and in case of grid connection it draws magnetizing current from the grid.

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For a grid connected system, frequency and voltage at the machine will be dictated by the electric grid, since it is very small compared to the whole system. For stand-alone systems, frequency and voltage are complex function of machine parameters, capacitance used for excitation, and load value and type.

4.1.6 Use of induction generators

Induction generators are often used in wind turbines and some micro hydro installations due to their ability to produce useful power at varying rotor speeds. Induction generators are mechanically and electrically simpler than other generator types. They are also more rugged, requiring no brushes or commutators.

Fig 4.7 Induction Generator

Induction generators are particularly suitable and usually used for wind generating stations as in this case speed is always a variable factor, and the generator is easy on the gearbox.

4.1.7 Example application

We must use 10 hp, 1760 r/min, 440 V, 3 phase induction motor as an asynchronous generator. Full-load current of the motor is 10 A and full-load power factor is 0.8. Required capacitance per phase if capacitors are connected in delta: Apparent Power S = 3 E I = 1.73 * 440 * 10 = 7612 VA Active power P = S cos = 7612 * 0.8 = 6090 W Reactive PowerQ = = 4567 VAR
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For machine to run as an asynchronous generator, capacitor bank must supply minimum 4567 / 3 phases = 1523 VAR per phase. Voltage per capacitor is 440 V because capacitors are connected in delta. Capacitive current Ic = Q/E = 1523/440 = 3.46 A Capacitive reactance per phase Xc = E/I = 127 Minimum capacitance per phase: C = 1 / (2**f*Xc) = 1 / (2 * 3.141 * 60 * 127) = 21 microfarads. If load also absorbs reactive power, capacitor bank must be increased in size to compensate. Prime mover speed should be used to generate frequency of 60 Hz: Typically, slip should be similar to full-load value when machine is running as motor, but negative (generator operation): Slip = 1800 - 1760 = 40 rpm Required prime mover speed N = 1800 + Slip = 1840 rpm

4.2 Synchronous generator

One of the most important types of electrical rotating machines is the synchronous generator, this machine is capable of converting mechanical energy into electricity when operated as a generator and power mechanics when operated as a motor. Synchronous generators are used in the majority of hydroelectric and thermoelectric plants. The name Sync is because of this machine to operate with a constant speed synchronized with the frequency of the alternating voltage applied to the terminals of the same. Constituent parts of the Synchronous Generator

4.2.1 Rotor (Field)

Part of the spinning machine, consisting of a ferromagnetic material wrapped in a coil called the field winding, which is designed to produce a constant magnetic field as well as in the case of direct current generator to interact with the field produced by stator winding. The voltage in this winding is continuous and the current supported by the winding is much smaller than the stator winding, the rotor also can contain two or more windings, where an even number and all connected in series with each winding will be responsible the production of one of the poles of the electromagnet.

4.2.2 Stator (armature)

Fixed part of the machine, mounted around the rotor so that it can rotate inside, also
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made of a ferromagnetic material wrapped in a set of coils distributed along its circumference. The stator windings are fed by a system of three-phase AC voltages. For the stator runs all the electricity generated, and both the voltage and electric current is moving quite high in relation to the field (rotor), whose function is only to produce a magnetic field to excite the machine so it was possible to induce voltages at the terminals of the stator windings. Compare, for example, a large generator in which circulating 18kV and 6556A against the stator 350V and 1464A rotor.

4.2.3 Working principle

Operating as a synchronous generator When operating as a generator, mechanical energy is supplied to the machine by applying a torque and the rotation axis thereof, a source of mechanical energy can be, for example, a turbine, gas or steam. Once the generator being connected to the grid, its rotation is dictated by the frequency of the network, because the frequency of the phase voltage depends directly on the speed of the machine. For the synchronous machine is able to effectively convert mechanical energy applied to its axis, it is necessary that the field winding located in the rotor of the machine is powered by a voltage source so that by rotating the magnetic field generated by the rotor poles can move on to the drivers of the stator windings. Because of this relative motion between the magnetic field of rotor poles, the intensity of the magnetic field through the stator windings will vary over time, and so will the law of Faraday induction of strain on the terminals of the stator windings. Because the distribution and spatial arrangement of the set of stator windings, the voltages induced at its terminals will be threephase alternating sinusoidal. The electric current used to power the field is called the excitation current. When the generator is operating in isolation from an electrical system (ie, is an island of power), the excitement of the field will control the voltage generated. When the generator is connected to an electrical system that has several generators connected, the excitement of the field will control the reactive power generated. Operating as a synchronous motor When operating as a synchronous motor, the power is supplied to the machine by applying three-phase AC voltages at the terminals of the stator windings, in addition to the field windings of the rotor is fed by a voltage source. Since the voltages applied to the stator windings are switched on and three-phase, will be circulated in the same alternating current of same frequency as the voltage, this current will produce alternating magnetic fields that also vary over time.

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Furthermore, because the spatial arrangement of the stator windings, magnetic fields with time-varying will also move in the stator, so that the magnetic field will rotate around the circumference of the stator with angular velocity proportional to the frequency of the alternating voltage applied to the windings . So when one of the poles of the magnetic field generated by the field winding of the rotor interact with the rotating field resulting from the stator, will attempt to align with the pole of opposite sign, and as the pole of the rotating stator field is rotating, the rotor will come a torque of forces that will generate a torque so that the rotor turns and keep the fields in the field winding of the rotor and the stator rotating field line. With the rise of torque, the rotor will rotate following the direction and speed of the rotating field of the stator, so the angular velocity of the synchronous motor is synchronized with the frequency of the alternating voltage applied to the stator windings

4.2.4 Description of variable-speed generator systems Synchronous generator and diode-thyristor converter.
The generator system is a system consisting of a synchronous generator, a diode rectifier, a dc filter and a thyristor inverter. The inverter may have a harmonic filter on the network side if it is necessary to comply with utility demands. The harmonic filter is, however, not included in the efficiency calculations. The advantage of a synchronous generator is that it can be connected to a diode or thyristor rectifier. The low losses and the low price of the rectifier make the total cost much lower than that of the induction generator with a self-commutated rectifier. When using a diode rectifier the fundamental of the armature current has almost unity power factor. The induction generator needs higher current rating because of the magnetization current. The disadvantage is that it is not possible to use the main frequency converter for motor start of the turbine. If the turbine cannot start by itself it is necessary to use auxiliary start equipment. If a very fast torque control is important, then a generator with a self-commutated rectifier allows faster torque response. A normal synchronous generator with a diode rectifier will possibly be able to control the shaft torque up to about 10 Hz, which should be fast enough for most wind turbine generator systems. The armature current of a synchronous generator with a diode rectifier can be instable. This instability can, according to Hoeijmakers, be avoided by using a current-controlled thyristor rectifier. However, using a thyristor rectifier is much more expensive than using a diode rectifier and it also makes it neccesary to use a larger generator. Therefore, a diode rectifier should be used if the rectifier current can be controlled by other means. That is possible by means of the inverter current control. The control may, however, be slightly slower than that of a thyristor rectifier. Enclosed generators are preferred in wind turbine generator systems. But standard synchronous generators are usually open and cooled by ambient air ventilated through the generator. Enclosed synchronous generators are manufactured, but they can be rather expensive. Open generators can may be used if the windings are vacuum-impregnated. Standard induction generators, with a rated power up to at least 400 kW, areenclosed.
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A thyristor inverter is used in the system investigated in this report, mainly because it is available as a standard product at a low price and also for high power. In the future, when the size of the transistor inverters is increased and the price reduced, they will be an interesting alternative to the thyristor inverter.

4.2.5 Generators and rectifiers

In this section different generators for variable-speed systems are compared. A cage induction generator is normally used together with a self-commutated rectifier because it must be magnetized by a reactive stator current. The self-commutated rectifier allows a fast torque control but it is much more expensive than the diode rectifier and it is less efficient. An alternative to the expensive self-commutated rectifier would be an induction generator magnetized by capacitors and feeding a diode rectifier. The disadvantages of that system are that the generator iron core must be saturated to stabilize the voltage, which leads to a poor efficiency, and the capacitance value mustbe changed with the generator speed. An induction generator and a rotor cascade has the stator connected directly to the network and the rotor windings are connected to the network via a frequency converter. This system is interesting mainly if a small speed range is used because then the frequency converter can be synchronous speed can be used with a frequency converter rated only about 20 % of the total generator power. The main part of the power is transferred by the stator windings directly to the network. The rest is transferred by the frequency converter from the rotor windings. The disadvantage of this system is that the generator must have slip rings and therefore needs more maintenance than generators without slip rings. The conventional synchronous generator can be used with a very cheap and efficient diode rectifier.The induction generator and should therefore be somewhat more expensive. However, standard synchronous generators are generally cheaper than standard induction generators. A fair comparison can not be made since the standard induction generator is enclosed while the synchronous generator is open-circuit ventilated. The low cost of the rectifier as well as the low rectifier losses make the synchronous generator system probably the most economic one today. The drawback of this generator and rectifier combination is that motor start of the turbine is not possible by means of the main frequency converter. Permanent magnet machines are today manufactured only up to a rated power of about 5 kW. They are more efficient than the conventional synchronous machine and simpler because no exciter is needed. Like other synchronous generators the permanent magnet generators can be used with diode rectifiers. High energy permanent magnet material is expensive today and therefore this generator type will not yet be competitive in relation to standard synchronous generators. For low-speed gearless wind turbine generators the permanent magnet generator is more competitive because it can have higher pole number than a conventional synchronous generator

5 Model of generator and converter losses

The model of the generator losses is verified for a 50 kVA generator. This loss model can be used to calculate the generator shaft torque from measurements of the armature power and the shaft speed. It also allows efficiency optimization by controlling the generator flux. Finally, the model parameters are derived for the 300 kW design example system.
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The friction and windage losses as well as the core losses are calculated and expressed as their equivalent braking torque on the generator shaft. That is convenient in the torque control point of view. It is also a natural way to calculate friction and windage losses and core losses because they have the character of a speed-dependent braking torque. The copper losses in the armature and field windings are not speed-dependent and they are therefore expressed as power losses. The loss model is a per unit model, but note that it is not the usual per unit system that is used. Since the generator and converter have many separate circuits, different base values can be used, and are used, for the currents in the different circuits. The principle of the used per unit system is that all powers in all circuits should be comparable to each other while all currents, voltages, speed and torque should have the value of 1 p.u. at rated load of the generator converter system. To be able to see easily what effect each loss component has on the system efficiency, all powers and losses are related to the rated input power of the system. The per unit quantities are generally denoted by lower case letters and the normal quantities by upper case letters. The exception is the speed n which in per unit is denoted n'.

5.1 Model of machine losses

The losses in the machine can be divided into several independent parts Additional losses Friction losses Core losses Armature winding losses Input mechanical power Field current input power Electrical power Output Field winding losses

5.1.1 Friction and windage loss torque

The friction and windage losses include the friction losses of the bearings, the windage losses in the machine and the losses of the cooling fan. The bearings are usually roller bearings which can be assumed to have an almost constant braking torque. The windage and fan loss torque is mainly quadratically dependent on the shaft speed. There is also a small component of the friction and windage loss torque that is linearly dependent on the shaft speed. For a standard four-pole generator it is assumed that the friction and windage loss torque can be described as a constant torque and a torque proportional to the square of the generator speed. The manufacturer can give values of the friction and windage torque at rated speed in per unit, t torque t estimated. The windage and friction torque can be expressed in per unit as t ng') = t t t ng'2 (3.1) where ng' is the per unit shaft speed of the generator.

5.1.2 Core losses

The core losses PFe can be separated into two parts, hysteresis losses PHy and eddy current losses PFt. Both are functions of the magnitude of the alternating flux B and the frequency f. PFe = PHy(B,f PFt(B,f)
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Eddy current losses in an iron core can be expressed as PFt(B,f) ~ B2 f y (3.3) 2, according to. In the same way the hysteresis losses canbe expressed as PHy(B,f) ~ Bx f (3.4) 2.3 For electrical machines these functions are generally used with y = 2 and x = 2. These values are within the limits found in. To use them simplifies the calculation of the total core losses because both the eddy current losses and the hysteresis losses then change in the same way with changing flux. That allows a separation of the total core losses into a product of the flux dependent hysteresis losses and a frequency-dependent eddy current factor ( 1 + f C ) that includes the effect of the eddy current losses PFe(B,f) = PHy(B,f) ( 1 + f C ) (3.5) where C is a constant and PHy(B,f) is PHy(B,f) ~ B2 f (3.6) The value of B in the above equations is usually the peak value of the alternating flux density. In an electric machine the flux linkage can be used in the loss formulas, instead of the peak value of the flux, if the flux wave-shape does not change too much when the load change. The generator flux wave shape is not constant due to armature reaction and saturation. But the only practical way to estimate the peak value of the flux is by using the flux linkage of the stator winding. That method is used for this loss model. Instead of the flux density and frequency, B and f, the flux linkage ng, can be used P n ng ( 1 + ng C ) (3.7) Since the hysteresis loss function includes a flux-dependent factor times the shaft speed the power losses can be calculated as an equivalent braking torque TFe =P PFeng T n ng CFt ) where CHy and CFt are machine dependent core loss constants. The use of the speed as a variable instead of the frequency is chosen because the speed is already used as a variable for the friction and windage losses and it is usual to measure the generator speed in a wind turbine generator system. For a synchronous generator in steady state operation the speed and frequency are equal when they are expressed in per unit. The presented theory does not take the effects of saturation into account. The saturation makes the core losses increase more than the theory predicts when the flux increases. To approximate the core loss torque with a reasonable accurracy is, however, possible even with this simple model. Only the core loss torque at rated flux and speed as well as the eddy current factor at rated speed have to be known. By using values of the core loss torque at rated flux which includes the effect of saturation the absolute error of the core losses is kept low even though the theoretical flux dependency of the core loss torque is not exact. The hysteresis loss function will only have a quadratic term according to the theoretical equation.

5.1.3 Winding losses

For sinusoidal currents the copper losses of the armature windings can be expressed as PCu a = 3 Ra I2a

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where Ia is the r.m.s. armature current and Ra is the equivalent per phase armature reistance. Expressed in per unit the armature copper losses are pCu a = ra i2a For nonsinusoidal currents the calculation of the losses can be much more complicated. The fundamental current component and the current harmonics do not meet the same effective resistance. The skin effect gives rise to a higher resistance for the harmonics. However, when using a diode rectifier the low-order harmonics dominate and the resistance for the fifth and seventh harmonics can for a normal stator winding be assumed to be about the same as the resistance for the fundamental component. Therefore, the model uses the measured total r.m.s. value of the armature current to calculate the armature winding losses. The field winding losses can be calculated in the same way as the armature winding losses PCu f = Rf I2f where Rf is the field winding resistance and If is the field current. Expressed in per unit the field winding losses are pCu f = rf i2f

5.1.4 Exciter losses

Most four-pole synchronous generators in the range of 10 kW to 1 MW have an integrated exciter with a rotating rectifier. The exciter is a small generator mounted on the shaft of the main generator. It generates the field current of the main generator without the use of slip rings. Since it is only supplying the power to the rotor windings, the rated power of the exciter is only 1-2 % of the main generator rated power. The model of the generator losses can be extended to include the exciter losses. The main difference is that when the exciter is used the power consumed in the rotor windings is fed by the exciter from the mechanical shaft power. Therefore, there is a contribution to the braking torque from the losses in the rotor windings. The other losses of the exciter, its stator winding losses, core losses and additional losses, can be neglected. Even if the exciter efficiency is very low these losses are small. The total copper losses of therotor windings are pCu rotor (if) = rrotor i 2f where rrotor is the resistance of the main generator field winding and two times the per phase resistance of the rotor winding of the exciter raE rrotor = rf + 2 raE One problem in finding the rotor losses in a generator with exciter is that the main field current is not possible to measure. In some way the field current must be modelled as a function of the exciter current or, as used later, by estimating the field current from the flux linkage and the armature current.

5.1.5 Additional losses

One part of the additional losses is the losses in the damper windings. At steady state operation and sinusoidal armature currents the damper winding currents are almost zero. They should not cause losses when the generator is loaded resistively. However, when the generator is loaded by a diode rectifier there are steady state losses in the damper windings. Because of the harmonics in the armature mmf wave, currents flow in the damper windings. The currents in the damper windings are approximately proportional to the armature current. Other parts of the

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additional losses are for instance the core losses associated with the distortion of the flux wave and the stray flux in the end regions that cause extra core losses. The additional losses can be approximated as being proportional to the square of the armature current. They can, therefore, easiest be included in the loss modell by adding a fictitious resistance to the armature resistance in the loss calculations. If the additional losses at rated load, Pad N, are known, the fictitious armature resistance of the additional losses can be calculated as Rad =Pad N3 I2a N The additional losses are, expressed in per unit pad N = rad i2a

5.1.6 Complete generator loss model

The total per unit generator losses can be modelled as the sum of five different types of losses, using only four variables. For a generator with slip rings the losses are p loss g(n ia,if) =ng' (t ng') + t Fe(n pCu a (ia) + pCu f (if) + pad (ia) If slip rings are used, the field winding losses are not fed from mechanical power from the generator shaft and therefore they do not contribute to the braking torque t loss g(n ia) = t ng') + t Fe(n pCu a (ia) + pad (ia) ng' where the different losses are defined as t ng') = t t t ng'2 t Fe(n t Fe N 1 + CFt ng') pCu a (ia) = ra ia2 pCu f (if) = rf if 2 pad (ia) = rad ia2 The loss torque formula, Equation , can be used to calculate the shaft torque if the armature power pa is known t g(pa,n ia) =pang' + t loss g(n ia) If the total generator losses should be minimized also the field losses must be included. Then the power loss formula, Equation, is used to minimize the total losses by changing the generator flux. For generators having an integrated exciter the power loss formula is changed. The total rotor losses increase because both the field winding losses and the exciter winding losses are included p loss g(n ia,if) =ng' (t ng') + t Fe(n pCu a (ia) + pad (ia) + pCu rotor(if) In this case the rotor losses also contribute to the braking torque: t loss g(n ia,if) =t ng') + t Fe(n pCu a (ia) + pad (ia) + pCu rotor (if)ng' where the rotor losses are defined as pCu rotor (if) = rrotor if 2

6 The use of the loss model in control and design

In this chapter, the system efficiency is optimized. The model of losses in the generator and converter can be used to maximize the efficiency of the system during operation.The system

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design can also be optimized by comparing different generators of various rated power and rated speed.

6.1 Optimum generator voltage control

The frequency converter does not only allow variations in the generator frequency. It also allows variations of the generator voltage. In a wind turbine generator system the optimum shaft torque is pre-determined as a function of speed. The optimum torque can, however, be obtained by different combinations of generator current and voltage. This control possibility can be used to minimize the generator and converter losses by means of the voltage control. The maximum allowed generator voltage is limited by the inverter ac voltage at full load and at low load and low speed by the maximum allowed generator flux. At full load the generator voltage is limited to 90 % of the inverter ac voltage to insure safe commutation of the inverter. At low load and low speed the generator flux has to be lower than 105 % of the rated generator flux and this limits the generator voltage. According to standards the generator must be able to continuously operate at a flux 5 % higher than the rated value. On the other hand, the generator voltage may not be so low that the armature current increases above its rated value. Within these limits, the voltage can be controlled freely. The generator core losses decrease with decreasing flux and the armature copper losses decrease with decreasing current. Also the field winding losses change with the flux. If the armature reaction is small, the field winding losses will decrease with decreasing voltage, and if it is high the field winding losses will increase with decreased voltage. The increase in field winding losses at high armature reaction occurs because the field current must increase to balance the increasing armature currents even though the voltage is decreased. Also the efficiency of the converter changes with the voltage. Since most of the losses are due to voltage drops of the semiconductors and resistive voltage drops of the dc filter, the losses increase with increasing current. For a fixed power the converter losses thus increase with decreasing voltage. The generator voltage should be controlled to minimize the sum of core losses, field winding losses, copper losses and converter losses. The total generator and converter efficiency versus the input power of the generator can be seen both when an optimized voltage control is used and when the flux is kept constant at the rated flux. From the loss model the optimum voltage-speed curve can be calculated theoretically. This curve is together with the voltage limits If low voltages are used, there may be problems with the voltage control even if the current is not higher than the rated current. These problems arise because the armature reaction eventually becomes dominating in the generator voltage control. Normally, the voltage is reduced by reducing the field current. At the same time, the armature current is increased to keep the shaft torque constant. But, if the armature reaction is large, it may be necessary to raise the field current when the armature current is increased even though the voltage is reduced. The coupling between the voltage control and the current control may in that case cause problems.

6.2 Efficiency as a function of generator size

The generator rating should be chosen to minimize the total cost of both the generator and its losses. A large generator may be the most economic choice, even though it is more expensive, if it is more efficient. When comparing data for different sizes of the same generator type, e.g. for Leroy Somer generators, it can be seen that the different per unit losses do not always decrease when the size of the generator increases, because the generators are made in
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different standard frame sizes. Increasing the rated efficiency is not always done by increasing the generator frame size. When comparing the losses between two close generator sizes the smaller generator may, therefore, sometimes have lower armature resistance although its rated current is smaller. But only on very rare occasions it can be found that a generator has a lower rated efficiency than one that is smaller. The efficiency of three generators of different sizes is compared. It is assumed that they have the same efficiency at their respective rated powers. The generator sizes are chosen so that one generator will have a rated power of only 80 % of the wind turbine generator system maximum power. The rated power of the next generator is 100 % and of the last generator 120 % of the maximum turbine power. An undersized generator has the highest efficiency but it can of course not be used because it will be overloaded. A larger generator will give a higher efficiency only if the increase of rated efficiency is larger than the decrease in efficiency by reducing the generator per unit load. At a certain power the difference in efficiency between generators of different sizes can generally be expected to be small. An other reason to use a larger generator than necessary would be, besides a higher generator efficiency, that the insulation limit the generator life. Since the generator in a wind turbine generator system should have a very long operational life compared with many motor applications, the rating for the temperature class H or F may be too high leading to isolation failure after less than 20 to 30 year. A generator, made with class H insulation, can instead be used with a rated power that only leads to temperature rises according to class B to increase the life of the insulation. This is the same as using a larger generator for a specific power. 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Generator input power (p.u.) 0.88 0.89 0.9 0.91 0.92 0.93 0.94 Generator efficiency 20% larger generator Normal generator size 20% smaller generator

6.3 Optimum generator speed

For network-connected ac generators only some few fixed speeds can be used. These speeds are determined by the network frequency and the number of pole pairs of the generator. For a 50 Hz network the available speeds are 3000, 1500, 1000, 750 rpm and lower. For a variable-speed wind turbine generator system the choice of the generator speed is not restricted to a choice of pole pair number. The frequency of the generator can also be chosen freely which allows any generator speed. For instance, a four-pole generator can either be used at 1200 rpm and a frequency of 40 Hz or at 1800 rpm and 60 Hz. A six-pole generator can also be used at 1800 rpm and the frequency is then 90 Hz. Even though the turbine speed is determined by its optimum tip-speed ratio, the speed of the generator can be changed by using different gear ratios. From the loss model it can be found
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how the efficiency change with the generator speed. The change in efficiency when the speed is changed depend on how the power and generator flux are changed with the speed. Two comparisons are made. First the generator efficiency is calculated at various speeds but at constant power and secondly the generator efficiency is calculated when it is loaded as much as possible at each speed. When the power of the generator is the same at all different speeds the armature voltage can be kept constant. If the voltage is constant, the flux of the generator will be approximately inversely proportional to the speed of the generator. The power being constant as well as the voltage leads to a constant armature current. The friction and windage losses increase almost by the speed raised to a power of three. Armature winding copper losses remain constant in this example since the current is constant. The flux is, however, reduced which reduces the hysteresis losses. Also the eddy current losses are reduced but not as much as the hysteresis losses. Field winding losses are reduced too, because of the reduced flux. The efficiency can, however, be better optimized by controlling the voltage to maximize the efficiency for each generator speed. Calculations on the efficiency with this type of control are also made. The armature current is now decreased a little as the speed increase since the voltage may increase. Not only the core losses and field winding losses decrease but also the armature copper losses. The loss model of the generator is used to calculate the efficiency versus the speed of the generator at a fixed input power. The resulting efficiency for the 50 kVA generator used at a constant voltage or at a voltage controlled to maximize the efficiency. If the generator is fully utilized, the efficiency will be even higher than if the power is kept at its rated value for 1500 rpm. The maximum efficiency is 94.6 % but it is at a speed far too high for ordinary generators, 2.2 p.u. Using rated generator flux the maximum generator efficiency is only slightly lower and at a speed of 2.05 p.u. These theoretical maximum efficiencies cannot be reached because the generator will be overloaded. It is, however, clear that a high speed and a high utilization increase generator efficiency. The results above show how the generator efficiency changes with the generator speed. The converter efficiency does not depend on the speed of the generator, only on the rated voltage. The rated voltage is determined by the network voltage and therefore the converter efficiency is not depending directly on the rated speed of the generator. The change in rated generator speed must instead be compensated by changing the voltage rating of the generator windings to fit the converter voltage. To verify what difference the generator speed makes, the efficiency of the generator and converter system was measured using speed-power functions representing three different gear ratios. The maximum speeds were 1393 rpm, 1500 rpm and 1700 rpm and the maximum power were 42.1 kW for all three gear ratios. It is also clear from these measurements that the efficiency of a generator converter system increases if higher generator speed can be used. The difference in efficiency is about 1% for the 50 kVA system when comparing 1500 rpm with 1700 rpm. This difference between different speeds is very large, mainly because of the low efficiency of the laboratory converter. A more efficient generator converter system will also have higher efficiency at higher speed, but the difference should not be expected to be larger than some tenths of a percent.

7 Comparison of constant and variable speed

In this chapter the per unit model is used to find the power from different parts of the wind converter system as functions of wind speed. These functions are used to see how the
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losses change with the control strategies. Constant-speed and two-speed operation of the turbine are compared to variable speed. For the variable-speed operation two different rated speeds and two different voltage controls are considered. By using a wind distribution model the annual energy passing through different parts of the system can be found. From these annual energy values, the average efficiency of the gear, the generator and the total mechanical to electrical power convertion is calculated. Also approximate values of the difference in energy production between a constant-speed, a two-speed and a variable-speed turbine are calculated. All these efficiencies and the energy production are calculated for turbine sites with various median wind speeds, from 0.35 p.u. to 0.70 p.u. This comparison is based on equally efficient generators for the variablespeed and the constant-speed systems. The differences between the generators in the two systems are that the variable-speed generator has additional losses and a commutation voltage drop due to the diode rectifier.

7.1 The per unit turbine model

The calculations are made for the 300 kW design system. For these calculations only a few of the quantities are needed. The power values are always related to the turbine shaft power at rated operation. This is important when the parameters for the model are determined, since the losses of the generator and converter are not in per unit of the rated generator and converter power. The reason for this is that the total losses should be the sum of the per unit losses in the different components. Values of the loss parameters are all related to the rated power of the described component. Now, they will be a little smaller since the losses are related to a larger power.

7.2 Energy and average efficiency

From the above presented power outputs at different wind speeds an annual energy can be calculated. This is done by integrating the power, from the start-up wind speed to the shutdown wind speed, with the wind speed probability function as a weighting function. A Weibull distribution of wind speeds is assumed when the weighting function is derived. The integral of the weigthing function over all wind speeds from zero to infinity is by definition equal to 1. The Weibull distribution is the usual way to specify the wind resources for different turbine sites. The distribution has two parameters, here the median wind speed vm and a shape factor c. For normal wind distribution c is about 2, which is assumed here. The energy density function shown is the product of the power and the weighting function. The integral of energy density function, from zero wind speed to the shutdown wind speed, is the annual energy in per unit. In the energy density diagram it can be seen that the energy production at wind speeds just below rated wind speed gives the most important contribution to the total energy production. The energy production above rated wind speed is not as important because the probability of so high wind speeds is low. Contrary to what can be guessed from the power versus wind speed function the energy production at low wind speed is not negligible. The power is low at low wind speeds but the probability of these wind speeds is high making the contribution to the energy production significant.

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7.2.1 Assumptions for the energy calculations

The main objective of the comparison between variable-speed and constantspeed systems is to find the average energy conversion efficiency. As a step in the calculation of the average efficiency the energy production is also calculated. Average efficiency is here defined as the output energy divided by the input energy. Since the calculation is made in per unit the calculated energy production is by definition the same as the average power production because the energy is calculated for a time equal to 1 p.u. Since the Weibull distribution parameters are derived from 10 minutes average wind speeds, the result of the energy calculations has errors, especially for the variable-speed system. However, the error of the output energy is almost the same as the error of the input energy. Since the efficiency is the quotient of output and input energy, this error is small in the efficiency values. The energy integrations are made for sites with different median wind speeds, between 4.55 m/s and 9.1 m/s. The rated wind speed of the turbine is here assumed to be 13 m/s and the median wind speeds considered are then from 0.35 to 0.7 p.u. At low wind speed sites the median wind speed is in the range 0.35 to 0.45 p.u. (4.55 to 5.85 m/s). Wind turbine generator systems are usually not located at these sites. If the median wind speed is in the range 0.45 to 0.55 p.u. (5.85 to 7.15 m/s) the site is a normal wind speed site and most wind turbine generator systems are located at these sites. Sites of a median wind speed between 0.55 and 0.70 p.u. (7.15 to 9.1 m/s) is high wind speed sites and they are rarely found in Sweden.

7.2.2 Wind energy captured by the turbine

The turbine energy capture is calculated first by integrating the turbine power functions Pt(v) multiplied by the weighting function from the system start-up wind speed to the rated wind speed. Then the rated power multiplied by the total probability of wind speed between rated wind speed and the shutdown wind speed is added. The result from this calculation is the per unit energy captured by the turbine during a year with the chosen wind speed probability curve. The wind speeds for start-up, rated power and shutdown of the turbine are v0, vN and vmax. The energy captured by the turbine is defined as et(c,v v0vNw(v,c,vm) pt(v) dv + pt(v vNvmaxw(v,c,vm) dv

7.2.3 Gear energy output and average gear efficiency

The per unit energy output from the gear is defined in the same way as the turbine energy eg(c,v v0vNw(v,c,vm) pg(v) dv + pg(v vNvmaxw(v,c,vm) dv The energy from the gear can, together with the turbine energy, be used tocalculate the average efficiency of the gear. The average gear efficiency for a site with the median wind speed vm can be found as eg(c,vm)et(c,vm) ( The average gear efficiency is calculated for different median wind speeds from 0.35 to 0.7 p.u. . 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 (p.u.) Average efficiency of the gear 0.95 0.955 0.96 0.965
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0.97 Variable speed Two speeds Constant speed v m The average gear efficiency is always higher in a variable-speed system than in a constant-speed system. This is obvious since the gear losses in a variable speed system are never higher than in a constant speed system at equal power. The difference in average efficiency is not large, only 0.2 % for high wind speed sites, 0.4 % for medium wind speed sites and about 0.7 % for low wind speed sites. It is a small, but clear, advantage of the variable-speed wind turbine generator system.

7.2.4 Electric energy and average electric efficiency

In this section the average efficiency of the generator of the constant-speed system is compared with the average efficiency of the generator and converter of the variable-speed system. Later in Section the total efficiency, including the gear, is presented. The per unit output electrical energy of the constant-speed generator can be calculated as eaCS(c,v v0CSvNCSw(v,c,vm) paCS(v) dv + paCS(vN vNCSvmaxw(v,c,vm) dv For the two-speed system the integration is divided into three parts eaTS(c,v v0TS1v0TS2w(v,c,vm) paTS1(v) dv v0TS2vNTSw(v,c,vm) paTS2(v) dv +paTS2(v vNTSvmaxw(v,c,vm) dv For the constant-flux variable-speed system the output energy is the energy from the inverter eiVS(c,v v0VSvNVSw(v,c,vm) piVS(v) dv + piVS(v vNVSvmaxw(v,c,vm) dv The energy produced when optimized flux and a higher speed is used is calculated in a similar way. The average efficiency of the generator system can be calculated by dividing the output electrical energy by the input mechanical energy from the gear. A comparison of the average efficiency of the generator system is made to find how efficient a variable-speed generator system is compared to a constantspeed system. First the variable-speed system with optimized efficiency is compared with a two-speed system and a constant-speed system. It is found that the optimized variable-speed system often is about as efficient as the constant-speed system in converting the mechanical energy of the generator shaft into electric energy to the grid. On sites with low median wind speed the variable-speed system is more efficient because of its low losses at low power. The efficiency is a little lower or as high as the efficiency of a constant-speed system for normal wind speed sites. For high wind speed sites the variable-speed generator system is always less efficient. The average efficiency of the two-speed system is rather similar to the one of the constant-speed system. It is a little lower at high wind speed sites and a little higher at low wind speed sites. 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 (p.u.) Average efficiency of generator (and converter) 0.86 0.88 0.9 0.92 Variable speed Two speeds
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Constant speed vm The difference in average efficiency between an optimized voltage control and the often used constant flux voltage control. 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 (p.u.) Average efficiency of generator and converter 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.9 0.91 0.92 Optimum voltage n = 0 - 1 p.u. Constant flux n = 0 - 1 p.u. Optimum voltage n = 0 - 1.2 p.u. vm If optimized voltage control is used instead of constant rated flux the efficiency will be about 0.5 to 0.8 % higher on sites with normal median wind speed. On sites with low wind speed the difference in efficiency, between optimized voltage control and constant flux, can be up to more than 1 %. If a higher generator speed is used than the speed at 50 Hz, the average efficiency will also improve. The increase in efficiency by using a higher speed is small, less than 0.2 % for all median wind speeds.

7.2.5 Total efficiency including the gear

To find the average efficiency in converting the turbine shaft energy into electrical energy, the output electrical energy is divided by the turbine energy 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 (p.u.) Average efficiency of gear, generator (and converter) 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.9 Variable speed Two speeds Constant speed v m The result is similar to the average efficiency of only the generator and converter. The only difference is that the gear losses make the constant speed system less efficient compared with the variable-speed system. The laboratory system has a low converter efficiency (95.6 %) compared with the design example system (98 %). This difference is found to be very important when a constant-speed and the corresponding variable-speed system are compared. The lower converter efficiency makes the average efficiency of the variable-speed system lower than the average efficiency of the constant-speed system for all median wind speeds. This shows that an efficient converter is very important if the variable-speed system shall be as efficient as the constant-speed system. 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 (p.u.)
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Average efficiency of gearbox, generator (and converter) 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.9 Variable speed Constant speed vm flux and 1.0 p.u. rated speed.

7.3 Produced energy

When the average efficiencies are calculated, there are also automatically results showing the difference in produced electric energy. The calculation method have been derived for constant-speed turbines and, therefore, the accuracy of this comparison depends on how accurate the energy calculation method is for variable-speed turbines. Because of this uncertainty, the predicted difference must be seen only as a hint of what the real difference may be. The capacity factor is defined as the average power production divided by the rated electric power. In per unit the average electric power is equal to the produced electric energy. Therefore, the capacity factor Ccap for the constant-speed and two-speed systems can be defined as Ccap =ea(c,vm)pa(vN) For the variable-speed system the capacity factor is defined as Ccap =ei(c,vm)pi(vN) The capacity factor of the turbine can be calculated for different control strategies. The comparison is made for a constant-speed , a two-speed and a variable-speed wind turbine generator system using optimized flux and a rated generator speed of 1 p.u. 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 (p.u.) Capacity factor 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 Variable speed Two speeds Constant speed vm It can be seen that the capacity factor of the variable-speed system is higher than that of the constant-speed system. The two-speed system also has a high capacity factor compared with the constant-speed system. The absolute energy capture, expressed as the capacity factor for different systems. It is, however, difficult to find the relative increase in the energy production

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when a constant-speed system is changed to an equal twospeed or variable-speed system . The increase in energy production has been calculated for the variable-speed system as eiVSopt(c,vm) eaCS(c,vm) and for the two-speed system eaTS(c,vm) eaCS(c,vm) 121 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 (p.u.) Power production compared with a constant-speed system 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 Variable-speed system Two-speed system vm It can be seen that the two-speed system produces more than the constantspeed system. The difference between two-speed and variable-speed system is not so large as the difference between constant-speed and two-speed systems. For a normal median wind speed the increase in energy production is about 5.2 % if a variable-speed system is used instead of a constant-speed system. If a two-speed system is used the increase is 3.8 %. This comparison is made for systems with equal rated turbine power and unequal rated output power.

7.4 Summary of average efficiency comparison

Although a variable-speed system has extra losses in the generator and converter it can usually be about as efficient as a constant-speed generator. At low wind speed sites it is more efficient, at high wind speed sites it is less efficient. The extra losses in the frequency converter have often been said to be a disadvantage of the variable-speed system. However, the calculations in this chapter show that the decrease in generator and gear losses can compensate for the increase in losses due to the frequency converter. The calculations are based on the use of an efficient frequency converter, with a rated efficiency of 98 %. If a transistorized inverter is used, in order to reduce the network disturbance, the total efficiency will decrease a few percents. Still, the difference in average efficiency between variable-speed and constant-speed systems will be small at medium wind speed sites.

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8 Conclusions
A model of the losses in the generator and converter has been derived and verified for a 50 kVA generator. The model can be used to predict the shaft torque of the generator with an error of less than 2 % of the rated torque. This should be sufficient for the steady-state torque control of a wind turbine. The model only needs measurements of the generator speed, the dc voltage and the dc current of the converter. Most of the model parameters are, for normal generators, available from the manufacturer. The rest of the parameters can be estimated if the demand on the accuracy is not higher than about 2 %, otherwise they have to be measured. The loss model can be used to maximize the generator and converter efficiency. By changing the generator voltage, the efficiency of the system can be maximized. If the voltage is controlled to maximize the efficiency, the generator and converter system is about 0.5 to 0.8 % more efficient, in average, than if the common constant flux control is used. It has also been found that a variable-speed generator should use a high speed to increase the efficiency and decrease the generator size. To use a larger standard generator than necessary does not normally improve the efficiency. Earlier, it has often been said that the losses in the frequency converter of a variablespeed system are a drawback.However that the total energy losses do not have to increase because of the frequency converter. The generator and gear losses can be reduced when the converter is used, and this reduction may be large enough to compensate for the losses in an efficient converter. This means that the annual average efficiency of a variable-speed generator system can be as high as that of a constant-speed system, at least for turbine sites of normal wind speed. At high wind speed sites the average efficiency is lower and at low wind speed sites it is higher in the variable-speed system than in the constant-speed system. The loss model has errors in modelling the additional losses and the core losses. If the accuracy is critical, the additional losses and the core losses should be investigated more thoroughly.

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9 References
Energy Sources(G.D. RAI) Wind Electrical System(S.N. BHADRA,D. KASTHA,S. BANERJEE) ELECTRICAL & ELECRONICS ENGINEERING WORKSHOP (S.K. BIISHNOI,M.L. MEENA) WIND GENERATORS.ORG

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