Power optimizer

About: Power optimizer is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10525 publications have been published within this topic receiving 199245 citations.

Design of a Unified Power Controller for Variable-Speed Fixed-Pitch Wind Energy Conversion System

Abstract: A unified power controller for variable-speed fixed-pitch wind energy conversion system (WECS) is designed covering the whole range of wind speed in this paper. The proposed controller is composed of a modified maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller in low wind speed and a new constant speed and constant power controller in high wind speed. For the former, a combination of modified hill climb searching (HCS) and power signal feedback (PSF) MPPT algorithms is used. The modified HCS method is activated to search for the maximum power point (MPP) first, which is followed by the PSF method once one MPP is found. By using this controller, not only the a priori knowledge of the aerodynamic characteristics of turbine blades is avoided, but also low torque/power ripple is achieved; for the latter, a new auxiliary passive stall control method is proposed. It temporarily increases the output power to force the turbine to operate in deep stall regime, thus to decrease the captured power of the turbine. The proposed controller is implemented on a digital signal processor. The validity of the proposed method is verified by experimental results done on a 10-kW WECS.

Photovoltaic Power System With Battery Backup With Grid-Connection and Islanded Operation Capabilities

Abstract: This paper presents the analysis, design, and experimentation results of a photovoltaic energy management system with battery backup. The proposed system is capable of both grid-connected and islanded operations. The main advantage of the proposed system is that, in grid-connected mode, the inverter works as a current source in phase with the grid voltage, injecting power to the grid and controlling the dc-link voltage. The dc/dc converter manages the battery charge. In islanded mode, the inverter control is reconfigured to work as a voltage source using droop schemes. The dc/dc converter controls the dc-link voltage to enable the maximum power point tracking reference to be followed. An operation protocol is proposed to ensure the quality of the energy supply and minimize energy loss. A battery bank is connected to the dc link as energy storage for islanded operation mode. The aim of this paper is to show that the proposed system performs correctly, without dangerous transients for the inverter or the loads. Simulation and experimental results on a 3-kW prototype show the feasibility of the proposed control strategy.

A new green power inverter for fuel cells

Abstract: This paper presents a new grid connected inverter for fuel cells. It consists of a two stage power conversion topology. Since the fuel cell operates with a low voltage in a wide voltage range (25 V-45 V) this voltage must be transformed to around 350-400 V in order to invert this DC power into AC power to the grid. The proposed converter consists of an isolated DC-DC converter cascaded with a single phase H-bridge inverter. The DC-DC converter is a current-fed push-pull converter. A new dedicated voltage mode startup procedure has been developed in order to limit the inrush current during startup. The inverter is controlled as a power factor controller with resistor emulation. Experimental results of converter efficiency, grid performance and fuel cell response are shown for a 1 kW prototype. The proposed converter exhibits a high efficiency in a wide power range (higher than 92%) and the inverter operates with a near unity power factor and a low current THD.

Ship to Grid: Medium-Voltage DC Concepts in Theory and Practice

Abstract: Corporate research centers, universities, power equipment vendors, end users, and other market participants around the world are beginning to explore and consider the use of dc in future transmission and distribution system applications. Recent developments and trends in electric power consumption indicate an increasing use of dc-based power and constant power loads. In addition, growth in renewable energy resources requires dc interfaces for optimal integration. A strong case is being made for intermeshed ac and dc networks, with new concepts emerging at the medium-voltage (MV) level for MV dc infrastructure developments.