A research group at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has developed an adaptative algorithm to improve small wind turbines efficiency.
In recent years, mini wind energy has been developing in a spectacular way. According to estimates by the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), the level of development of the mini wind energy industry is not the same as that of the wind energy industry, although forecasts are optimistic. The main reason is low small wind turbines efficiency.
To address this problem, the UPV/EHU’s research group APERT (Applied Electronics Research Team) has developed an adaptative algorithm. The improvements that are applied to the control of these turbines will in fact contribute towards making them more efficient.
Small wind turbines tend to be located in areas where wind conditions are more unfavorable. “The control systems of current wind turbines are not adaptative; in other words, the algorithms lack the capacity to adapt to new situations,” explained Iñigo Kortabarria, one of the researchers in the UPV/EHU’s APERT research group. That is why “the aim of the research was to develop a new algorithm capable of adapting to new conditions or to the changes that may take place in the wind turbine,” added Kortabarria. That way, the researchers have managed to increase the small wind turbines efficiency.
The speed of the wind and that of the wind turbine must be directly related if the latter is to be efficient. The same thing happens with a dancing partner. The more synchronized the rhythms of the dancers are, the more comfortable and efficient the dance is, and this can be noticed because the energy expenditure for the two partners is at a minimum level. To put it another way, the algorithm specifies the way in which the wind turbine adapts to changes. This is what the UPV/EHU researchers have focused on: the algorithm, the set of orders that the wind turbine will receive to adapt to wind speed.
“The new algorithm adapts to the environmental conditions and, what is more, it is more stable and does not move aimlessly. The risk that algorithms run is that of not adapting to the changes and, in the worst case scenario, that of making the wind turbine operate in very unfavorable conditions, thereby reducing its efficiency.
“The experimental trials conducted clearly show that the capacity to adapt of the new algorithm improves energy efficiency when the wind conditions are variable,” explained Kortabarria.“ We have seen that under variable conditions, in other words, in the actual conditions of a wind turbine, the new algorithm will be more efficient than the existing ones.”
Kortabarria, I., Andreu, J., Martínez de Alegría, I., Jiménez, J., Gárate, J., & Robles, E. (2014). A novel adaptative maximum power point tracking algorithm for small wind turbines Renewable Energy, 63, 785-796 DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.10.036