Design and Operation of Power Converter for Microturbine Powered Distributed Generator with Capacity Expansion Capability

In this paper, a novel approach for the design of power converter for a microturbine is proposed. In the method, a unified control scheme as well as a novel modular arrangement has been developed such that the inverter circuit is capable of parallel operation of different modules in anticipation of reaching high-capacity requirements. To validate the effectiveness of this proposed approach, scenarios including the loss of grid and grid-connected operation were both tested through the software simulation and experimental validation. From the test results, they have consolidated the feasibility and practicability of the approach for the applications considered.