Maximum power point tracker

wind turbine maximum power point tracker

I'm designing a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) specifically optimized for wind turbines.

Currently available off-the-shelf MPPTs work fine in the application they were designed for. (See wikipedia: maximum power point tracker for details). However, apparently they won't work with wind turbines. When they pull the maximum instantaneous power from a spinning turbine, the turbine blades go slower and slower until it stops, at which point you're getting zero power out.

The wind turbine maximum power point tracker I'm designing will extract more energy over the course of a day than those MPPTs. Instead of pulling the current that maximizes instantaneous power out, it will pull somewhat less current in order to keep the blades spinning at the optimum speed. The optimum speed will change over the course of the day as the wind speed changes.

--DavidCary 08:14, 26 September 2008 (PDT)