Emulation of a micro-hydro-turbine for stand-alone power plants with Z-Source inverter

This paper proposes an emulation model of a small scale hydro turbine driving a micro generation system and using a Z-Source inverter. The turbine emulator utilizes the hill charts to scale the characteristic curves of the turbine according to different turbine sizes and different head and water flow conditions. In the experimental set-up a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) is used as a generator and an induction machine drive with field oriented control emulates the behavior of the turbine. A Z-Source inverter is utilized to convert the available electrical power with a voltage that varies in amplitude and frequency and delivers a voltage with constant amplitude and frequency.