Evaluation and Design Tools for the Reliability of Wind Power Converter System

As a key part in the wind turbine system, the power electronic converter is proven to have high failure rates. At the same time, the failure of the wind power converter is becoming more unacceptable because of the quick growth in capacity, remote locations to reach, and strong impact to the power grid. As a result, the correct assessment of reliable performance for power electronics is a crucial and emerging need; the assessment is essential for design improvement, as well as for the extension of converter lifetime and reduction of energy cost. Unfortunately, there still exists a lack of suitable physic-of-failure based evaluation tools for a reliability assessment in power electronics. In this paper, an advanced tool structure which can acquire various reliability metrics of wind power converter is proposed. The tool is based on failure mechanisms in critical components of the system and mission profiles in wind turbines. Potential methodologies, challenges, and technology trends involved in this tool structure are also discussed. Finally, a simplified version of the tool is demonstrated on a wind power converter based on Double Fed Induction Generator system. With the proposed tool structure, more detailed information of reliability performances in a wind power converter can be obtained before the converter can actually fail in the field and many potential research topics can also be initiated.