Data communications and application development of a full-power converter in wind power systems

摘要

Wind power is a promising source for renewable, distributed energy. Although one of the most mature renewable energy technologies, it has a lot of potential for improvement, for example in terms of reliability, efficiency, and environmental impact.This master of science thesis gives an introduction to one power converter technology commonly used in wind power systems, a full-power converter. A full-power converter is a power electronics device, which processes all the power generated by a wind turbine generator connected to it. It gives the energy producer full control over the generated power, and helps to meet the increasing national and international demands for power quality.As a point of particular interest in the thesis are the data communications in and out of the full-power converter product of a Finnish technology company, The Switch, and the development of the product to meet the increasing demands of the industry. An introduction is given to the fieldbus technology used for local connections, and how a remote access functionality is implemented in the product using the Tosibox Lock & Key remote access system. A simplified configuration routine for the data communication system, and an administration strategy for the connections are developed as one of the main goals of the thesis. The intention is to have a straightforward method, so that the routine can be independently executed by the company's testing personnel in any of the company's locations, and so help the company to allocate usable resources more effectively in every production phase.The thesis continues to implement new features to the automation application of the product, as well as a new protection feature, which together supplement the final product well and give the customers more feature-rich and safe product.