Comparison of power converter topologies for
permanent magnet small wind turbine system
N. A. Orlando, M. Liserre, V. G. Monopoli, R. A. Mastromauro, A. Dell’Aquila
Politecnico di Bari, Italy
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
orlando@deemail.poliba.it, liserre@poliba.it, monopoli@deemail.poliba.it, mastromauro@deemail.poliba.it,
dellaqui@poliba.it
Abstract Permanent magnet based wind generators are one
of the more promising technology. This paper presents a
comparison of power converter topologies for permanent
magnet small wind turbine systems to improve the power
quality and to extract the maximum power from wind. Two
detailed models are presented and explained: the first
configuration is made by a diode-bridge rectifier, a boost
converter and an inverter connected to the grid, the second
configuration is a back-to-back converter. The generator
control is designed to maximize the power output and achieve a
smooth torque and power profile. The operational
characteristics of the two configurations are investigated
through simulations.
I. INTRODUCTION
The power of individual wind turbines is constantly
growing as their size (5 MW wind turbines 124 meters
high). It is obvious that the installation of these turbines also
create environmental problems. An interesting alternative is
constituted by small wind turbines of less than 100 kW.
Their power level enables technologically advanced
solutions and their installation can create a cumulative
power not negligible [1]-[3]. In any case the problems
associated with noise and visual disturbances do not
recommend the use of such turbines in the towns and make
them an ideal candidate for remote areas with weak
connections to the electricity grid. This situation creates
opportunities for the enhancement of "power quality" where
the network is weak. In the future these low power wind
turbines can be requested to have innovative features such
as the ability to manage weak grids and subject to frequent
disconnections. These turbines must be able to operate
universally: connected to the grid or in the stand-alone mode
or forming a microgrid [4].
This paper presents a comparison of power converter
topologies for permanent magnet small wind turbine
systems to improve the power quality and to extract the
maximum power from small wind turbine.
Section II presents two power converter topologies used in
small wind turbine systems. The first configuration is made
by a diode-bridge rectifier and a boost converter and an
inverter connected to the grid; the second configuration is
made by a back–to-back converter connected to the grid.
Section III describes the generator model (Permanent
978-1-4244-1666-0/08/$25.00 '2008 IEEE
Magnet Synchronous Generator, PMSG), the differences
between the power converter topologies and the extraction
of power from wind for the two configurations described
above. Section IV treats the use of a braking chopper to
dissipate the power in excess. Section V presents the grid-
side converter control. Finally, in the Section VI some
simulation results are proposed.
II. WIND TURBINE TOPOLOGIES
Several types of generators can be adopted in wind power
turbines: dc and ac types, parallel and compound dc
generators, with permanent magnets or electrical field
excitation, asynchronous or synchronous generators. The
right choice depends on the primary source, the type of load
and the speed of turbine. Besides, systems differ with
respect to their applications, whether they are stand-alone or
connected to the grid. In small wind turbine systems for
stand-alone and interconnected applications, the choice is
between variable speed asynchronous and synchronous
generators.
Variable speed asynchronous generators are very easy to
operate in parallel with large power systems, because the
utility grid controls voltage and frequency while static and
reactive compensating capacitors can be used for correction
of the power factor and harmonic reduction. Abrupt speed
changes due to load or primary source changes, as usually
expected in small power plants, are easily absorbed by its
solid rotor, and any current surge is damped by the
magnetization path of its iron core without fear of
demagnetization, as opposed to permanent magnet based
generators [5]. With the last advances in power electronics,
the use of variable speed Squirrel Cage Induction Generator
(SCIG) with a double stage ac-dc-ac power conversion has
become quite attractive, in both power and very high power
levels [6].
On the other hand, the Permanent Magnet Generator (PMG)
is a good choice too [7]. The PMG differs from induction
generator in that the magnetization is provided by a
permanent magnet pole system on the rotor. In the PMG the
output frequency bears a fixed relationship to the shaft
speed, whereas in the grid connected induction generator,
the frequency is closely related to the grid frequency, being
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related by the slip. The advantages of PMG include self- Then, the electromagnetic torque results:
excitation, which allows operation at high power factor and ms n p
efficiency. Te = − ψ PM isq = − K c isq = K c 2 I s sen (δ ) (4)
2
K c is the torque constant, δ is the angle between the stator
A Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator based wind current ( I s ) and the axis d aligned on the magnet.
turbine with diode-bridge and boost converter
⎧ −vsd + ωr Ls isq
Fig. 1(a) shows a permanent magnet synchronous ⎪isd =
generator (PMSG) connected to the grid by three converters: ⎪ Ls s + Rs
a diode-bridge rectifier, a boost converter and an inverter. ⎪ −vsq − ωr Ls isd − ω r Ψ PM
⎪isq =
DC/DC boost converter is used to control the generator [8] – ⎪ Ls s + Rs
[10]. This configuration is less expensive but offers lower ⎪ (5)
T
⎨ e = − K i
c sq
performances than back-to-back converter in terms of ⎪
⎪ω = n
⎪ r Js + B ( T
quality of the generator currents. T − Te )
p

B Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator based wind ⎪

turbine with back- to- back converter ⎪θ = ωr
⎪ r s
Fig. 1(b) shows a permanent magnet synchronous ⎩
generator (PMSG) connected to the grid by a back-to-back The (5) represents the equations of PMSG: TT is the turbine
converter. The back-to-back converter is a bidirectional torque, J is the moment of inertia, B is viscous friction
power converter. It consists of two VSI-PWM converters coefficient and s is the Laplace operator.
connected by a capacitor: the converter connected to the
B Converter topologies and their control
generator is used as a rectifier, while the converter
Fig. 2 shows the generator-side converter control in the
connected to the grid is used as an inverter. To achieve full
two configurations investigated in this paper.
control of the output, the dc-link voltage must be boosted to
In Fig. 2(a) the structure of the torque control system for
a level higher than the amplitude of the grid voltage. The
boost converter is shown [8]-[10]. The rotor speed
power flow of the grid side converter is controlled in order
determines the torque reference, which is used to calculate
to keep the dc-link voltage constant, while the control of the
DC current reference value.
generator side is set to suit the magnetization demand and
In Fig. 2(b) the control system for the second converter
the reference speed or torque. A technical advantage of this
topology is shown. The measured rotor speed determines the
topology is the capacitor decoupling between the grid
reference torque, which is used to control the generator.
converter and the generator converter. Besides affording
The rotor speed can be estimated using the Phase Locked
some protection, this decoupling offers separate control of
Loop (PLL) shown in Fig. 3.
the two converters, allowing compensation of asymmetry
The inverter performances, such as voltage regulation,
both on the generator side and on the grid side,
reactive power control, and power quality, depend mainly
independently [11]. on the grid–side inverter. This also removes the need for
III. GENERATOR SIDE CONTROL special starting and synchronizing equipment for the PMSG.
The system may operate at any power angle, without losing
A Generator Model synchronism.
The generator is modeled [12] by the following voltage
equations in the rotor reference frame (dq axes):
⎧ d λsd
⎪⎪vsd = − Rs isd − dt + ωr λsq
⎨ (1)
⎪v = − R i − d λsq − ω λ
⎪⎩ sq s sq
dt
r sd

where λsq , and λsd are q and d and flux linkages,

(a)
⎧⎪λsd = Ls isd + ψ PM
⎨ (2)
⎪⎩λsq = Ls isq
ψ PM is the flux of the permanent magnets.
The electromagnetic torque is
ms n p
Te =
2
( )
λsq isd − λsd isq (3) (b)

where ms = 3 is the number of phases and n p are the pole Fig. 1 Wind Turbine system. (a): diode-bridge rectifier and boost converter
pairs. (b): back-to-back converter.

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 the turbine by a braking chopper. Then the braking chopper
controls the power on the DC bus. Applying the K.C.L. in
the point P (Fig. 5), results:
dv
it = iBC + C dc + i0 (7)
dt
where it is the generator-side converter current, iBC is the
braking chopper current and i0 is the grid-side converter
current. Multiplying the first and the second member of (7)
for vdc results:
dvdc
vdc ⋅ it = vdc ⋅ iBC + vdc ⋅ C + vdc i0 (8)
dt
(a) (b) ∆P = vdc ⋅ it − vdc i0 (9)
Fig.2: Generator-side converter control. (a): diode-bridge rectifier and
boost converter (b): back-to-back converter. The energy-balance of the braking chopper is:
v2 v2
vdc ⋅ iBC = BC = k 2 dc (10)
R R
where k is the duty cycle. Then, the (9) results:
2
vdc dv
∆P = k 2 + vdc ⋅ C dc (11)
R R
Fig. 3: Rotor speed estimated by dq phase locked loop (PLL).
The (11) represents the power exchanged among the braking
C Maximum power extraction chopper, the DC capacitors, the rectifier and the grid
converter. Using this equation is possible to tune a
The time - average mechanical input power Pm at the shaft controller that manages the braking chopper.
of the generator can be calculated from [1]:
1
Pm = ρAv w3 C p (λ , β ) (6) V. GRID-SIDE CONVERTER
2
where CP ( λ , β ) is the aerodynamic power coefficient, as a A Standards and recommendations
function of the tip speed ratio λ and the pitch angle β. For a The IEEE 1547 [13] and IEC 61400-21 [14] standards
given Cp (λ, β) the mechanical power can be plotted as a request that the Wind Turbine (WT) systems contribute to
function of the rotor speed for different values of the wind preserve the grid power quality in terms of voltage
speed, as shown in Fig. 4. The dashed line represents the amplitude, frequency and phase. Particularly, the current
conditions of maximum power generation. injected into the grid should not have a total harmonic
1.4
distortion (THD) higher than 5%; the limits for each
11.5 m/s
harmonic is recommended by [13]. They are valid for all
1.2
11m/s
distributed generation systems with aggregate capacity up to
1 10 MVA. In the European standard [14], the WT systems
Mechanical Power (p.u.)

10 m/s
are treated as polluting loads. Depending on the grid [15]
0.8
[16], it is required that the current THD is lower than 6-8 %.
0.6 9 m/s
In case there are several wind turbines connected to the
0.4
8 m/s same PCC, the hth harmonic can be computed as:
7 m/s β
N
⎛I ⎞
Ih ∑ = β ∑⎜ hi ⎟
0.2 6 m/s
5 m/s (12)
0 i =1 ⎝ υi ⎠
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Rotor speed (p.u.)
where β is 1 for h < 5, 1.4 for 5< β <10 and 2 for h>10.
Fig. 4: Mechanical power vs. rotor speed function of wind speed.
B Converter control
The grid-side three-phase converter is connected to the
dc-side of the WT system through a capacitor and to the grid
through an isolation transformer and a filter.
The converter is controlled by two cascade-loops. The outer
Fig. 5: back-to-back power converter with DC bus model highlighted. dc-voltage loop provides the reference for the inner current
loop. The control scheme of the grid-side converter control
IV. BRAKING CHOPPER is shown in Fig. 6. It allows to obtain an high power factor
The PMSG has the possibility of accepting overload for a and sinusoidal grid currents. The current control has been
certain time range. In this condition it is possible to brake operated by two PI controllers acting in a d-q rotating

2361
system. It is synchronous with the grid voltage frequency Fig. 8 shows the comparison between the reference electric
and the d-axis is aligned to the grid voltage vector. The d- torque and the electric torque measured in the configuration
component ensures the dc-voltage regulation while the q- of diode-bridge rectifier and boost converter (a) and in the
component is controlled in order to obtain an unitary-power- configuration of back-to-back converter (b). In Fig. 9 the
factor. comparison between the mechanical torque and the
The model of the grid-side system can be defined by generator torque is shown.
⎧ did Fig 10 shows the comparison between the electric power
⎪⎪vd = R ⋅ id + L dt − ω L ⋅ iq + ed and the grid power in the configuration of diode-bridge
⎨ (13) rectifier connected to the grid (a) and in the configuration of
⎪ v = R ⋅ i + L diq + ω L ⋅ i + e
⎪⎩ q q
dt
d q back-to-back converter (b).
where R and L are respectively the parasitic resistance and Fig. 11 shows the comparison between the actual rotor
the inductance of the grid-side system, ed and eq denotes speed and the rotor speed estimated with phase locked loop
respectively the d, q components of the grid voltage vector. (PLL) in the configuration of back–to-back converter.
Hence, the d-current and the q-current references can be B Braking chopper
calculated by Fig. 12 shows the generator power, the braking chopper
⎧ vd* power and the grid power.
⎪id * = When the power is in excess and can not be injected in the
⎪ Ls + R
⎨ (14) grid, the braking chopper power has a peak due the high
⎪ vq* dynamic control. Then, the power which can not be injected
⎪⎩iq * = Ls + R in the grid is dissipated by the braking chopper.
where vd* and vq* denotes the control voltage 180

⎧⎪vd* = vd + ω L ⋅ iq − ed 160

⎨ * (15)
⎪⎩ vq = vq − ω L ⋅ id − eq
140

rotor speed [rpm]

120

The PI controllers have been tuned with the optimum design 100
method: k p = L 3Ts , TI = L R where Ts is the sampling time.
80

60
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
time [s]

Fig. 7: Rotor speed due to a wind speed variation at 20 s (5.5 m/s to 11m/s).

1800

1600

1400

1200
Torque measured Reference torque
Torque [N*m]

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
time [s]

(a)
1800

Fig. 6: Grid-side converter control 1600

1400 ReferenceTorque

Torque measured
1200

VI. RESULTS
Torque [N*m]

1000

In this section some simulation results are presented. The

800

synchronous generator has a 25 kW rated power and inertia

600

500 Kgm2 and the grid LCL-filter values are: L = 1.4 mH,
400

200
Lfilter = 1 mH, Cfilter = 10 µF, Rdamping = 10 Ω. 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
time [s]
A. Wind turbine behavior (b)
The Fig. 7 shows the rotor speed related to a wind speed Fig. 8: Reference electric torque and the electric torque measured. (a):
variation between 5.5 m/s and 11 m/s occurring at t=20 sec. diode-bridge rectifier and boost converter; (b):back-to-back converter.

2362
 1800 208

1600
206
1400

1200 mechanical 204

generator torque
torque
wm estimated
Torque [N*m]

rotor speed [rpm]

1000 wm
202

800

200
600

400 198

200
196
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
time [s]
194
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
time [s]
Fig. 9: Comparison between the mechanical torque and the generator
torque for diode-bridge rectifier and back-to-back converter. Fig. 11: Comparison between rotor speed frame and rotor speed estimated.
25 4
x 10
4

3.5
Generator power
20

3
Electric power Grid power
15
Power [kW]

2.5

Active power [W]

Grid power
2
10

1.5

Braking chopper power

5
1

0.5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
time [s]
0
(a) 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
time [s]
0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1

35

Fig. 12: Generator power, braking chopper power, grid power.

30

25 30
Electric power
Grid power

20
Power [kW]

20

15

10
10
current [A]

5 0

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 -10
time [s]

(b) -20

Fig. 10: Comparison between the electric power and the grid power. (a):
-30
diode-bridge rectifier; (b): back-to-back converter. 0.8 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.9
time [s]

(a)
C Generator behavior 30
In this section it is analyzed the quality of the currents on
the generator side in case of: a) diode-bridge rectifier; b) 20

back–to-back converter. In Fig. 13(a) the generator side

currents obtained without capacitors are reported, while Fig. 10

13(b) shows the generator side currents in case a bank of

current [A]

100 µF capacitors is added. In back–to–back case the

0

generator side currents are quasi sinusoidal (Fig. 14). -10

Then, it has been carried out the harmonic analysis of the
generator currents side in the case of diode-bridge rectifier -20

without filtering and in the case a bank of capacitors is

added. In the first case the harmonic content is r = 2.5 A and -30
0.8 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.9
time [s]
the Total Harmonic Distortion is THD = 15.6% . In the
(b)
second case the harmonic content is r = 5.7 A and the Total Fig. 13: Generator currents without (a) and with (b) capacitors.
Harmonic Distortion is THD = 25% .

2363
 30
estimate the rotor speed have been discussed. Then the use
20
of a braking chopper to dissipate the power in excess is
treated. Finally, the grid converter control is presented with
10 reference to standard compliance.
Simulation results are included to highlight the differences
current [A]

between the performances of the two configurations and the

0

-10
influence of filtering capacitor for the three-phase diode
bridge rectifier case. The back-to-back converter guarantees
-20 a better tracking of the reference torque and higher power
into the grid.
-30
0.8 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.9
time [s]

Fig. 14: Generator currents side in the configuration of back–to–back REFERENCES

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