Renewable energy sources have become a significant alternative energy source due to the continuing depletion of conventional energy sources and fluctuation in fuel costs. Currently, wind energy is the foremost among all other renewable energy sources. However, modeling and analyzing industrial wind turbines is complex as the wind turbine power ratio and size have steadily increased. Undoubtedly, industrial wind turbines are huge and challenging to keep in research labs; simultaneously, exploring the controller/power converter performance is practically impossible. Therefore, to overcome the above drawbacks, wind turbine emulators have been developed to achieve the static and dynamic characteristics of wind energy conversion systems. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of the different wind turbine emulators available in the literature. In addition, the implementation of real-time emulators is classified according to the structure and approaches. Furthermore, an extensive analysis of the emulators was presented based on the significant parameters utilized for the real-time wind turbine emulators. Finally, this review analyzes the different emulator topologies according to cost, accuracy, complexity, and hardware implementation.

In recent years, different off-the-shelf solutions for the rapid control prototyping of power electronics converters have been commercialised. The main benefits of those systems are based on a fast and easy-to-use environment due to high-level programming. However, most of those systems are very expensive and are closed software and hardware solutions. In this context, this paper presents the design and implementation of a control platform targeting at the segment in between expensive off-the-shelf control platforms and low-cost controllers. The control platform is based on the Launchpad TMS320F28379D from Texas Instruments, and it is equipped with an expansion board that provide analogue-to-digital measurements, switching signals and hardware protections. The performance of the control platform is experimentally tested on a 20 kVA power converter.

This article proposes a new scalar control scheme for variable speed drives of induction motors with an adaptive starting control. Besides centrifugal pumps, blowers, and fans, it expands the scalar control application field to move, for instance, a class of conveyor belts with nominal torque loading. An adaptive passivity-based controller designed for a class of nonlinear systems encompassing the dynamical machine model keeps a constant stator starting current. The proposed methodology uses information from the motor nameplate. Hence, it keeps a simple control scheme, not needing parameter estimates, neither adjusting controllers nor variable observers depending on them. Experimental results with a 10 HP downscaled laboratory prototype validate the proposed control strategy effectiveness. It shows rated-starting torque capabilities and fast speed response. Moreover, it shows lower stator current consumption than previous scalar control schemes.