Power quality assessments of a commercial grid-connected small wind turbine product

Abstract

Due to the much more concerns are focused on the environmental protection and the development of green technology, various micro- and small-scale renewable energy systems are appeared in our daily live. Meanwhile, small wind turbines, designed for lower costs and to overcome land space limitation, are widely integrated into household electrical system. Injection of wind power into an electric grid may affect the power quality, especially for the considerable sizes are provided. Since the power quality must often comply with certain requirements on electric utility grid code or nation regulations, the power quality impact should thus be assessed prior to installation. Unlike the large-scale wind turbines which are optional required to perform power quality measurements during certification testing phase, small wind turbines are often neglected in these measurements due to their smaller capacities are easily thought not to impact the systems. But, considering the high penetrations of small wind turbines may be connected to the future electric systems, this paper aims to perform the power quality measurements for a commercial small wind turbine. The main observations of this study on the grid concerning power quality are voltage/current fluctuations, flicker, harmonics for a small wind turbine with power electronic conversion device and other parameters like active and reactive powers.