Self-Excited Induction Generator for Variable-Speed Wind Turbine Generation

When an induction generator is connected to a utility bus, the voltage and frequency at the terminal of the generator are the same as the voltage and frequency of the utility. The reactive power needed by the induction generator is supplied by the utility and the real power is returned to the utility. The rotor speed varies within a very limited range, and the reactive power requirement must betransported through a long line feeder, thus creating additional transmission losses. The energy captured by a wind turbine can be increased if the rotor speed can be adjusted to follow wind speed variations. For small applications such as battery charging or water pumping, a stand alone operation can be implemented without the need to maintain the output frequency output of the generator. Aself-excited induction generator is a good candidate for a stand alone operation where the wind turbine is operated at variable speed. Thus the performance of the wind turbine can be improved. In this paper, we examine a self- excited induction generator operated in a stand alone mode. A potential application for battery charging is given. The output power of the generator will be controlled toimprove the performance of the wind turbine.