Simulation for small scale wind turbine system with ultra low power converter

Abstract

Maximizing the power output harvested from the wind turbine is a big challenge as the output power depends largely on the wind speed. It is an option to consider an ultra-low DC/DC converter for a wind turbine system. By carrying out this study, it will help to improve the low power output from the wind turbine so it can be used to power up batter or home application. The concept is to simulate a small-scale wind turbine system using MATLAB Simulink and LTSPICE to simulate integrated circuit of ultra-low converter and boost converters. The system consists of wind turbine, generator with pitch control, rectifiers, ultra-low converter and boost converter. The function of the ultra-low converter is to step up the wind turbine output while the boost converter is to step up the output from the ultra-low converter. The impact of using the ultra-low converter towards the whole system is done under two scenarios, which are simulation with ultra-low converter and without the usage of the ultra- low converter. Further simulation for various wind speed is done to study the performance of the ultra-low converter. From the study, the system is able to step up the output voltage from the wind turbine up to 11.57 VDC. As an implication, the ultra-low power converter combine with the dc converter is capable to boost the small power output from the wind turbine system thus capable to power up home small home appliance or battery system.