Wind Turbine Maximizer

I wanted to share one of the projects my father has been working on at UCF.

This is the article and a few images from his group’s symposium. They traveled to Australia to compete with it in mid July. Results are yet to be decided.

The main task my father tackled was to design the layout of all the components on the circuit board and figure out what components to use as well as actually attaining the components (because he was the oldest person on the team by at least 20yrs and has been an E.E. at Siemens for >20yrs.). His fellow teammates were responsible for assembly, programming and testing. Believe it or not the total cost of this circuit board is <$20.


Electrical Engineering – Wind Turbine Maximizer
The UCF senior design team is involved in an international undergraduate competition sponsored by the
worldwide IEEE organization. Every two years, the IEEE holds a contest to produce cutting-edge
technology in renewable energy concepts. This year we have developed a low-cost, highly-efficient
power maximizer for small wind turbines using advanced topologies combined with state-of-the-art
controlling algorithms. This will make smaller wind turbines more feasible in years to come. Our design
is also a part of the NSF International Research Experience for Students (IRES project), where, in
addition to traveling to Washington, DC and Australia, we will travel to Jordan for three weeks to study
abroad doing research in renewable energy. At the end of this venture, our design will incorporate solar
power and have a wider range of end-user applications.

Ramsey_innovations said:

This year we have developed a low-cost, highly-efficient
power maximizer for small wind turbines using advanced topologies combined with state-of-the-art
controlling algorithms.

Click to expand...

tell me more, What advantages do you get with your controlling algorithms and what do the algorithms do while making it more efficient?

Wouldn't it be most efficient to run the turbine at full speed all the time? This is assuming you are talking about power efficiency. Or do you mean like turning the turbine left and right to get perpendicular to the wind direction? Are you controlling the tilt of the blades? If you bring economics into the picture you have to make it most economically efficient and slow down the turbine when power prices go far enough negative (yes you have to pay to produce power when prices are negative, if you use the power you actually get paid to use it) to make it worth the risk of the turbines breaking while slowing down.

I work for a power company and control many wind farms (hundreds / thousands of turbines in each farm) across west Texas.

thanks,
Kendall

Ramsey_innovations said:

Believe it or not the total cost of this circuit board is <$20.

Click to expand...

Cool, that sounds like a bonus in itself

sk8er4514 said:

tell me more, What advantages do you get with your controlling algorithms and what do the algorithms do while making it more efficient?

Wouldn't it be most efficient to run the turbine at full speed all the time? This is assuming you are talking about power efficiency. Or do you mean like turning the turbine left and right to get perpendicular to the wind direction? Are you controlling the tilt of the blades? If you bring economics into the picture you have to make it most economically efficient and slow down the turbine when power prices go far enough negative (yes you have to pay to produce power when prices are negative, if you use the power you actually get paid to use it) to make it worth the risk of the turbines breaking while slowing down.

I work for a power company and control many wind farms (hundreds / thousands of turbines in each farm) across west Texas.

thanks,
Kendall

Click to expand...

Some of the information is proprietary. I can however tell you this, the way that the maximizer works is by using advanced algorithms to most efficiently convert the AC output of a given wind turbine to DC for storage / usage at over 99% efficiency. The very first test showed results of 93% efficiency when all of the components were 4 times the minimum rating. This was done so there would be no chance of component failure during initial testing. So now that some of the components have been changed to lower values they are also more efficient. The speed of the turbine doesn't dictate the maximizer's efficiency it's actively controlled through programming. This is why this new technology can be applied to other sources of power as well, such as solar. You may see this new circuit on the market before too long.

Thank you for your interest, I'd be glad to answer any other questions to the best of my ability.

If I understand correctly the unit transforms AC in to DC at a high efficiency...

Solar panels already out put DC... so why would you need that unit for Solar
panels...:thinking:

Jerry

I'm not informed as to all of the applictions of this circuit but I could pose questions and see what answers I can get. I think it may also convert DC to AC as well, I'll ask.

This is a description of the challenge requirements.

Low Cost Wind Turbine Energy Maximizer: The objective of this topic is to foster innovation in low power wind turbine generation systems for remote, rural and small urban applications. The goal is to construct a power electronic interface converter for a wind generation system that will support and protect the system operation under all operating conditions; achieve maximum energy transfer when charging a 12V battery over a wide range of wide speeds, without overcharging or damaging the battery; reliably operate without significant user support over many years of use; be a leading edge solution in the areas of performance, reliability, and safety. The design is supposed to be for minimum weight, minimum component cost and count, to achieve reduced high volume manufacturing cost.

Here is a link to more information about the 2009 Future energy challenge. 2009 International Future Energy Challenge

Thanks for the additional info... I see what it is designed to do now...
Basically it is a High Efficiency Charge controller...


Jerry

Yes, you are correct. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear from the begging.