Identification of the best topology of delta configured three phase induction generator for distributed generation through experimental investigations

Abstract Research on Self –excited induction generator (SEIG) brings a lot of attentions in the last three decades as a promising solution in distributed generation systems with low cost investment. There are two important fixations to attend in the operation of SEIG based systems, a) excitation and b) voltage regulation. Many procedures are reported regarding selection of excitation capacitance in the literature, based on state-state analysis, dynamic modeling, empirical formulas and machine parameters which involve various levels of complexity in findings. Moreover, the voltage regulation is the main challenge in implementation of SEIG based isolated systems. To address this problem, many power electronic-based schemes are proposed in the literature and but these solutions have few demerits importantly that additional cost of equipment and troubles due to failure of protection schemes. In particular, the installation of SEIG takes place at small scale in kW range in remote/rural communities which should not face such shortcomings. Further in case of off-grid systems, the maximum loading is fixed based on connected rating of the generator. This paper presents the various methods to find excitation capacitance and illustrates an experimental investigation on different possible reactive power compensation methods of delta connected SEIG and aimed to identify a simple method for terminal voltage control without power electronics. In this experimental work, the prime-mover of the generator is a constant speed turbine, which is the emulation of a micro/pico hydro turbine. From the results, it is found that a simple delta connected excitation and delta configured reactive power compensation limits voltage regulation within ±6% while maintaining the frequency of ±1%, which make feasible of the operation successfully in remote electrification systems.