Power Quality Measurements of a Horizontal Axial Small Wind Turbine

Abstract

As small wind turbines are increasingly used, the assessments of power quality may thus become paramount. Unlike the large-scale wind turbines which are optional required to perform power quality measurements during production certification stage; however the power quality measurements are often neglected in small wind turbines since they are not requested on the certain of national grid codes at low-voltage distribution system level. Considering the high penetrations of small wind turbines may be connected to the future urban electric network, the paper performs the power quality on-site measurements of a horizontal axle small wind turbines. The issues may include the discussion of measurement system structure, the description of measurement method, and the analysis of wind turbine power characteristic, voltage/current trends, harmonics and flicker phenomena. The measured data collected in the study will valuable for the further analysis of power systems connected with the small wind turbines.

An Evaluation of Flicker Emissions from Small Wind Turbines

“…However, the severe flicker emission does not occur only under the influence of the wind speed over the rated one. In addition, the cases of aggregative application of multiple SWTs are not analyzed in these studies [11][12][13]. The authors could not find other published studies regarding the flicker emissions caused by SWTs.…”

“…Nevertheless, the studies dealing with flicker emissions from SWTs, published in academic journals, are quite limited. In [11,12], flicker emissions from a 3.5 kW horizontal axis SWT and a 3 kW vertical axis SWT were measured severally for 7-10 days at wind turbine testing sites. The flicker emissions were less than the requirement of the local utility grid code.…”