A Reliability Evaluation Model for the Power Devices Used in Power Converter Systems Considering the Effect of the Different Time Scales of the Wind Speed Profile

This paper presents a reliability assessment model for the power semiconductors used in wind turbine power converters. In this study, the thermal loadings at different timescales of wind speed are considered. First, in order to address the influence of long-term thermal cycling caused by variations in wind speed, the power converter operation state is partitioned into different phases in terms of average wind speed and wind turbulence. Therefore, the contributions can be considered separately. Then, in regards to the reliability assessment caused by short-term thermal cycling, the wind profile is converted to a wind speed distribution, and the contribution of different wind speeds to the final failure rate is accumulated. Finally, the reliability of an actual power converter semiconductor for a 2.5 MW wind turbine is assessed, and the failure rates induced by different timescale thermal behavior patterns are compared. The effects of various parameters such as cut-in, rated, cut-out wind speed on the failure rate of power devices are also analyzed based on the proposed model.