Maximum-power point tracking of wind turbines is a challenging issue considering fast changing wind conditions of urban areas. For this purpose, an adaptive control approach that is fast and robust is required. Conventional approaches based on simple step perturbations and subsequent observation, however, are difficult to design and too slow for the demanding wind conditions of urban areas including gusts and turbulence. In this paper, an extremum seeking control scheme to the recently developed wind turbine MOWEA (Modulare Windenergieanlagen GmbH) is proposed and successfully applied. To this end, a comprehensive aero-electromechanical model of the wind turbine under study including basic control is formulated. Next, the extremum seeking control scheme is adapted to the system. Several aspects to increase adaptation speed are highlighted, including a novel phase compensation. Finally, a validation of the proposed approach is performed considering real wind data, thus demonstrating its fast and robust adaptability. The proposed control scheme is computationally efficient and can be easily implemented on the existing onboard electronics.

Die Mowea GmbH, ein Spin-Off der TU-Berlin, bietet Windenergiesysteme nach dem Lego-Prinzip an. Das Versprechen: auch bei schwachen Windverhältnissen effektive Energieerträge.