Power Losses of Three Phase Rectifier Topologies in Small Wind Turbines

Inhalt:
This paper presents the loss calculation of five different rectifier topologies applied to a small wind turbine system. The diode rectifier, the diode rectifier with a combination of a boost converter or switch mode rectifier as well as a half bridge switch mode rectifier and the two-level converter are considered in this paper. An important factor for a high efficient energy production is the wind speed. For small wind turbines it is rather low and gusty. The aim of this paper is the comparison of the rectifiers regarding the efficiency and the losses for certain wind speeds. Depended on the wind speed, the losses of the converter and the machine of these five rectifiers applied in a small wind turbine are calculated and simulated. Finally, a selection guideline is given for different wind characteristics.