IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 49, NO.

6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 2753

Design and Implementation of a Prototype

Underwater Turbine Generator System for
Renewable Microhydro Power Energy
Li Wang, Senior Member, IEEE, Su-Jen Chen, Shen-Ron Jan, and Hao-Wen Li

AbstractThis paper presents the installation and field mea- I. I NTRODUCTION

surements of a prototype microhydro power (MHP) generation
system based on an underwater turbine generator. The studied
MHP system employs the energy of flowing water in the agri-
cultural irrigation of one of the irrigation ditches of the Yunlin
S MALL hydro power (SHP) plants and MHP plants have
acquired increasing attention due to their ecological ir-
reproachability and acceptable prices for generating available
Farmland Irrigation Association, Taiwan. The irrigation ditches electricity without producing harmful unexpected pollution
are basically used for distributing irrigation water to different
farmlands. To design the prototype, the MHP unit has to meet and greenhouse gases. Both MHP and SHP plants can also
practical conditions of the selected ditch such as depth, width, be considered as environmentally friendly renewable energy
water flow rate, total days of water flowing in a year, etc. The resources because they can be designed to limit the interference
designed MHP unit consists of an underwater turbine, a gearbox, with ditch flow, river flow, or canal flow [1]. The employed
a three-phase self-excited induction generator with a switchable generators for MHP or SHP plants may be induction gener-
excitation capacitor bank, a three-phase diode bridge rectifier, a
dc-to-dc buck converter, and a dc-to-ac inverter. A monitoring and ators (IGs), synchronous generators with field excitation, or
control system based on an embedded system is also designed to permanent-magnet generators. With the fast development of
measure the electrical data of the MHP unit. high-power semiconductor devices, the generated power of the
Index TermsAgricultural irrigation ditch, dc-to-ac inverter, MHP and SHP plants can be conveniently converted to stable
dc-to-dc buck converter, gearbox, microhydro power (MHP), self- electrical power sources with good power quality to meet the
excited induction generator (SEIG), underwater turbine. requirements of commercial loads by means of novel ac-to-dc
converters and dc-to-ac inverters.
N OMENCLATURE AND A BBREVIATIONS Regarding the power generation and tests of MHP or SHP
plants, the applications of load control using a novel voltage
MHP Microhydro power.
and frequency sensing device were described in [2]. The test
SEIG Self-excited induction generator.
MHP plant [2] at Polmood, U.K., had the rating of single
C Excitation capacitance (in microfarads) of SEIG.
phase, 230 V, 50 Hz, and 18 kW while the fuzzy controllers
r Rotational speed (in revolutions per minute) of SEIG.
were developed to control the frequency without distorting the
Vg Generated voltage (in volts) of SEIG.
voltage waveform of autonomous renewable energy systems.
Ig Stator-winding current (in amperes) of SEIG.
Optimal planning of multiple microscale hydro generating units
Sg Output apparent power (in voltamperes) of SEIG.
over a catchment area consisting of 16 potential installation
Pg Output active power (in watts) of SEIG.
sites at the upper Ganga basin located in Northern India to
Qg Absorbed reactive power (in vars) of SEIG.
extract maximum possible energy per unit investment cost was
P Fg Output power factor (leading) of SEIG.
introduced in [3]. An hourly discretized optimization algorithm
PL Absorbed power (in watts) of the connected load.
to identify the optimal daily operational strategy for a wind-
RL Loading resistance (in ohms).
hydro power plant through the utilization of water storage
ability to improve wind park operational gains and to attenuate
active power output fluctuations was described in [4]. Design
criteria to determine the value of excitation capacitors and the
Manuscript received May 22, 2012; revised December 18, 2012; accepted
January 23, 2013. Date of publication June 6, 2013; date of current ver- loading on 110-kW IGs for SHP applications in Sri Lanka
sion November 18, 2013. Paper 2012-ESC-232.R1, presented at the 2012 were presented in [5]. The arrangement of proper reserve capac-
IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, USA, ity to handle intermittent energies such as wind energy and SHP
October 711, and approved for publication in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON
I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS by the Energy Systems Committee of the IEEE energy was described, and capacity expansion in regional power
Industry Applications Society. This work was supported by the Council of system during a short period to perform a reasonable energy
Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taiwan, under Grant 98AS-7.4.1-IE-b1. restructuring to enhance the generating efficiency of the studied
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National
Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 70101, Taiwan (e-mail: liwang@ system was also depicted in [6]. The use of two voltage-source
mail.ncku.edu.tw; [email protected]; [email protected]; inverters both for the control of field weakening operation and
[email protected]). for control over twice the rated speed range of a 600-kW doubly
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. fed IG for SHP applications was demonstrated in [7]. A model
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2013.2263272 for a microhydraulic power generation system in remote area

0093-9994 2013 IEEE

2754 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 49, NO. 6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013

was proposed and completed while the water flow adjusting be-
havior of the regulating pondage and the voltage compensation
effect by the energy-storage system of the studied system were
verified using digital simulations [8]. An overview of different
power topologies of microhydro turbines under 100 kW was
proposed while the power topology of microhydro generation,
stand-alone topologies, fixed speed generation, variable speed
generation, direct-connected grid integration topology, and
power-electronics grid integration topologies were discussed in
[9]. A new test facility for microhydraulic generation system
and to get fundamental characteristics was proposed while
the characteristics of the hydraulic turbine and generator were
measured by several effective heads equivalently realized by a
submersible pump to adjust the revolving speed [10]. Power
coefficient k of various water turbines was studied to evaluate
in [11], and it concluded that a small water current turbine with
higher value for k can provide electricity to a small group of
consumers or some homes. Different small hydro technologies,
new innovations being developed, and the barriers to further
development were discussed in [12]. The economic analysis of
several canals or ditches of the Chia-Nan Farmland Irrigation
Association in Taiwan was carried out in [13] for considering
future MHP installation.
This paper demonstrates the results of installation and field
measurements of a MHP unit based on a prototype underwater
turbine generator. This paper is organized as follows. Section II
describes the installation of the MHP unit. Sections III and
IV show the measured results and waveforms of the studied
MHP unit under steady-state and transient operating conditions,
respectively. Section V draws some specific conclusions of this
paper.

II. S ELECTED D ITCH AND P ROTOTYPE MHP U NIT

Fig. 1. Photographs of the selected ditch before the installation of the proto-
A. Selection of an Irrigation Ditch type MHP unit. (a) Cross-regulator and spillway. (b) Spillway and water-drop
structure.
The photographs of the selected irrigation ditch before in-
stalling the proposed prototype MHP unit are shown in Fig. 1 end of the spillway. These parameters of the ditch are very
[14]. The underwater turbine has to be specially designed to important for designing the required steel mechanical structure
meet the dimensions of the selected ditch. The selected ditch with suitable dimensions for supporting the designed MHP unit.
includes a cross-regulator, a spillway, and a small water-drop The front view, the cross-sectional view of one of the blades, the
structure. The spillway of the selected ditch is used to flow the top plate, and the bottom plate of the practical manufactured
excessive water of the ditch when the cross-regulator is closed three-straight-blade Darrieus rotor [15] used for the underwater
or the water is higher than a certain upper limit during raining turbine of the studied MHP unit are shown in Fig. 2(a)(d),
seasons. A small water-drop structure of the ditch located at the respectively.
end of the spillway was originally designed to reduce the rate of
water flowing. However, it can be changed to speed up the flow
rate of the water in the ditch for the MHP unit while the amount C. Gearbox and Generator Set
of power generation of the MHP unit can be slightly increased The gearbox with a single input shaft and a single output
by the small water-drop structure. shaft is specially designed and manufactured to couple the
output rotor shaft of the designed underwater turbine to the
input rotor shaft of a SEIG. Two transformation ratios (1 : 20
B. Prototype Underwater Turbine
and 1 : 25) are designed for the gearbox in order to increase the
The parameters for the selected ditch are as follows: 1) an low rotational speed of the underwater turbine of around 50
average rate of flowing water of about 2.5 m3 /s; 2) a maximum 60 r/min to the required rotational speed of the SEIG of around
rate of flowing water of about 6.0 m3 /s; 3) the width of the 10001200 r/min. The several gears with proper mechanical
ditch of 2.6 m; 4) the depth of the ditch of 1.378 m; and strength inside the gearbox shown in Fig. 3 are fully lubricated
5) the small water-drop structure of 1.53 m located at the to maintain high performance for mechanical operation. The
WANG et al.: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROTOTYPE UNDERWATER TURBINE GENERATOR SYSTEM 2755

Fig. 3. Internal configuration of the designed gearbox.

Fig. 4. Integration of the designed gearbox with the employed SEIG.

Fig. 2. Design specifications of the prototype underwater turbine. (a) Front

view. (b) Cross-sectional view of one blade. (c) Top plate. (d) Bottom plate.

design plot of the integration of the gearbox with the employed

SEIG is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 5. Photograph of the employed SEIG for the MHP unit.

D. SEIG
the gearbox. The capacitance of the excitation capacitor bank is
Fig. 5 shows the photograph of the employed SEIG with a
calculated and designed to meet the self-excitation condition of
squirrel-cage rotor. The specifications of the employed SEIG
the SEIG under variable rotational speeds using the eigenvalue
are as follows: three phases, rated power of 750 W, rated line
and eigenvalue-sensitivity techniques. The steps for calculating
voltage of 220 V, rated frequency of 60 Hz, six poles, and rated
the value of the excitation capacitor bank are summarized as
rotational speed of 1145 r/min. This machine is a commercial
follows [16][20].
induction motor made in Taiwan, but it is specially operated as
a SEIG in the MHP unit. The aim of the employed SEIG is to (a) Assume an initial value for terminal capacitance C0 =
convert the variable mechanical input torque generated by the 0 , and determine eigenvalues i0 for given machine
underwater turbine into the required electrical power through parameters, rotational speeds, and connected loads.
2756 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 49, NO. 6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013

Fig. 6. Photograph of the employed power converters.

(b) Set i0 = 0 in (1), and calculate coefficients (i )/()

and (1/2)(( 2 i )/( 2 ))
 
i  1 2 i 
i = i0 + + ()2 . (1)
0 2 2 0
Fig. 7. Configuration of the employed embedded monitoring and control
system for the MHP unit.
(c) Take the real part of (1), and then, find C = by

b + b2 4ad
C = (2)
2a
where a = (1/2)(( 2 i )/( 2 ))|0 , b = (i )/()|0 ,
and d = i0 . The minimum capacitance can be found by
(i)
Cmin = C0 + C. (3)
(i) (i1)
(d) Check whether |Cmin Cmin | ? for i = 1, 2, 3, . . ..
(i)
If the answer is No, then let C0 = Cmin , and go to step (a);
otherwise, stop, and report Cmin .
Fig. 8. Photograph of the employed embedded monitoring and control system
for the MHP unit.
E. Power Converters
The power converters for the SEIG include a three-phase
diode bridge rectifier, a dc-to-dc buck converter, and a dc-
to-ac inverter. The three-phase diode bridge rectifier (1000 V,
50 A) is used to rectify the variable generated three-phase ac
voltage of the SEIG to a dc voltage. The dc-to-dc buck converter
(25 A, 600 W) is employed to convert the variable output dc
voltage of the three-phase diode bridge rectifier (127370 V)
to a fixed dc 24 V for a battery storage unit that consists
of two series-connected leadacid batteries (each of 12 V,
110 Ah). The dcdc buck converter has a maximum-power-
point-tracking function to capture the highest generated power
from the SEIG under variable rotational speeds. The dc-to-ac
inverter with the input dc voltage of 2130 V is connected
between the dc battery and single-phase ac loads. The dc-to-ac
inverter can supply a load of single-phase 110-V 60-Hz 600-W
pure sine wave. Fig. 6 shows the photograph of the employed Fig. 9. Photograph of the screen of the employed embedded monitoring and
power converters. control system for the MHP unit.

uration and the photograph of the employed embedded monitor-

F. Embedded Monitoring and Control System
ing and control system for the MHP system, respectively. Fig. 9
For effectively capturing the power-generation data of the shows the photograph of the screen of the employed embedded
studied MHP unit, the embedded monitoring and control sys- monitoring and control system for the MHP unit. The program
tem is employed to conquer bad environmental conditions of of the embedded monitoring and control system is written by
the agricultural irrigation ditches. Figs. 7 and 8 show the config- the authors of this paper.
WANG et al.: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROTOTYPE UNDERWATER TURBINE GENERATOR SYSTEM 2757

TABLE I
M EASURED R ESULTS OF THE SEIG U NDER N O -L OAD C ONDITIONS

TABLE II
M EASURED R ESULTS OF THE SEIG U NDER
VARIOUS L OADING C ONDITIONS
Fig. 10. System configuration and dimensions of the studied underwater-
turbine-generator-based MHP unit.

excitation capacitance bank C of 40 F increases from 910

to 1100 r/min, the output voltage of the SEIG (Vg ) increases
from 188 to 225 V, and the output current of the SEIG (Ig )
drops from 0.56 to 0.19 A. The corresponding apparent power
(Sg ), active power (Pg ), reactive power (Qg ), and power
factor (P Fg ) of the SEIG also decrease with the increase of
the rotational speed. The similar characteristics can also be
Fig. 11. Photograph of the finished MHP unit installed on the selected observed from Table I when the SEIG has a fixed excitation
irrigation ditch. capacitance bank C of 80 F. Since the output voltage of the
SEIG is significantly affected by the rotational speed, the power
G. System Configuration and Finished System converters are necessary to be employed to offer better power
When each subsystem of the studied MHP unit has been quality for the connected loads. It can be observed from the
finished, the complete test prototype system configuration can results listed in Table I that, under the same rotational speed, the
be implemented by combining each subsystem. Fig. 10 shows SEIG with the larger fixed excitation capacitance bank can have
the designed system configuration and dimensions of the stud- higher generated voltages. For example, when the rotational
ied MHP unit. Fig. 11 shows the photograph of the finished speed of the SEIG is 1000 r/min in Table I, the generated
prototype MHP unit installed on the selected irrigation ditch. voltage of the SEIG reaches 224 V with a fixed excitation
This finished system has an additional orange steel structure capacitance bank C of 80 F while the generated voltage is
for moving the designed set with the underwater turbine and 203 V with a fixed excitation capacitance bank C of 40 F.
the SEIG up and down by means of a sliding steel rope and a However, to avoid too high generated voltage from occurring at
single-phase induction motor. the output terminals of the SEIG under higher rotational speeds
(due to higher water-flow speeds), a fixed excitation capacitance
III. S TEADY-S TATE M EASURED R ESULTS bank of 40 F is a better choice. Hence, a fixed excitation
capacitance bank of 40 F is used for the loaded SEIG in the
This section is divided into two subsections to analyze the next subsection.
measured steady-state results of the studied MHP unit under
different loading conditions. B. Various Loading Conditions
Table II lists the measured results of the studied loaded SEIG
A. No-Load Condition
with the power converter under a fixed excitation capacitance
Table I lists the measured results of the no-load SEIG under bank of 40 F and two different transmission ratios. A single-
different values of rotational speed and excitation capacitance. phase 2000- variable resistive load is connected to the output
When the rotational speed of the SEIG (r ) with a fixed terminals of the dc-to-ac inverter. It can be discovered from the
2758 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 49, NO. 6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013

Fig. 12. Measured voltage waveforms of the studied SEIG when the excitation Fig. 13. Measured transient output voltages of the SEIG (channel 1) and the
capacitor bank is suddenly switched off and switching on. (a) Excitation current of the connected load (channel 2) subject to sudden switching of a
capacitor bank is suddenly switched off. (b) Excitation capacitor bank is resistive load at the output of the dc-to-ac inverter. (a) Sudden connection of
suddenly switched on. a load. (b) Sudden disconnection of a load.

results listed in Table II that the rotational speed of the SEIG waveforms of the studied SEIG under the rotational speed of
(r ) increases from 800 to 950 r/min, the output voltage of 1000 r/min when the excitation capacitor bank of 40 F is
the SEIG (Vg ) increases from 112 to 190 V, the output current suddenly switched off and switching on, respectively. It can
of the SEIG (Ig ) drops from 0.85 to 0.16 A, the active power be clearly found from Fig. 12(a) that the generated voltage of
of the load (PL ) decreases from 164.8 to 64.8 W, and the dc the SEIG with a peak value of about 200 V gradually drops to
voltage at the output of the three-phase diode bridge rectifier zero when the excitation capacitor bank is suddenly switched
(Vdc ) increases from 157 to 265 V when the loading resistance off. Fig. 12(b) shows that the generated voltage of the SEIG
(RL ) increases from 150 to 1500 and the transmission ratio exponentially builds up to reach a peak value of about 200 V
is fixed at 1 : 25. When the loading resistance (RL ) increases when the excitation capacitor bank is suddenly switched on.
from 150 to 1500 and the transmission ratio is changed to The voltage waveforms shown in Fig. 12(a) and (b) demonstrate
be 1 : 20, the similar variations on the quantities of the SEIG that the switching of the excitation capacitor bank plays an
can also be observed from Table II. It can be compared from important role on the generated voltage of the SEIG under a
the results listed in Table II that the transmission ratio of 1 : 20 self-excitation condition.
can result in smaller variations on Vdc under the same loading
resistances. Since the employed power converters generally
B. Sudden Connection and Disconnection of a Load
have some lowest voltage limitations, the transmission ratio of
1 : 20 is a better choice for the gearbox to offer higher dc voltage Fig. 13(a) and (b) shows the measured transient voltages of
for the studied MHP unit without leading to the sudden trip of the SEIG and the current of the connected load when a resistive
the power converters. load of 100 is suddenly connected to and disconnected from
the output terminals of the dc-to-ac inverter. The rotational
IV. DYNAMIC M EASURED R ESULTS speed of the SEIG is kept at 1000 r/min during the switching
interval. It can be seen from Fig. 13(a) that the output voltage
This section is divided into two subsections to examine the
of the SEIG drops and the load current suddenly rises when
dynamic performance of the studied MHP unit under different
the load is suddenly connected to the dc-to-ac inverter. When
disturbance conditions.
the load is suddenly disconnected from the inverter, the loading
current of the dc-to-ac inverter drops to zero, and the gener-
A. Switching of Excitation Capacitors
ated voltage of the SEIG slightly increases. According to the
This subsection is to examine the self-excitation performance waveforms shown in Fig. 13, it shows that the proposed MHP
of the studied SEIG under sudden switching of the excitation unit has the ability to withstand the impacts from the sudden
capacitor bank. Fig. 12(a) and (b) shows the measured voltage switching of the connected loads.
WANG et al.: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROTOTYPE UNDERWATER TURBINE GENERATOR SYSTEM 2759

V. C ONCLUSION [13] L. Wang, D.-J. Lee, J.-H. Liu, Z.-Z. Chen, Z.-Y. Kuo, J.-S. Hsu,
C.-M. Chen, S.-S. Chiu, M.-H. Tsai, W.-T. Lin, and Y.-C. Lee, Economic
This paper has presented the installation and field- analysis of installing micro hydro power plants in Chia-Nan Irrigation
measurement results of a 750-W MHP unit including a de- Association of Taiwan using water of irrigation canals, presented at the
IEEE PES Gen. Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Jul. 2024, 2008, Paper
signed underwater turbine, a gearbox, a SEIG, and power 08GM0731.
converters. A three-straight-blade Darrieus rotor, a gearbox [14] L. Wang, D.-J. Lee, J.-H. Liu, Z.-Z. Chen, Z.-Y. Kuo, H.-Y. Jang,
with two transmission ratios, and a steel structure have been J.-J. You, J.-T. Tsai, M.-H. Tsai, W.-T. Lin, and Y.-J. Lee, Installation
and practical operation of the first micro hydro power system in Taiwan
properly designed and manufactured to integrate with the em- using irrigation water in an agriculture canal, presented at the IEEE PES
ployed SEIG equipped with power converters. The value of the Gen. Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Jul. 2024, 2008, Paper 08GM0509.
excitation capacitor bank of the SEIG has been determined by [15] M. J. Khan, M. T. Iqbal, and J. E. Quaicoe, Design considerations of a
straight bladed Darrieus rotor for river current turbines, in Proc. IEEE
using eigenvalue and eigenvalue-sensitivity schemes. A three- ISIE, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Jul. 912, 2006, pp. 17501755.
phase diode bridge rectifier, a dc-to-dc buck converter, and a [16] L. Wang and C.-H. Lee, A novel analysis on the performance of an
dc-to-ac inverter have been designed to be connected between isolated self-excited induction generator, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers.,
vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 109117, Jun. 1997.
the output terminals of the SEIG and the connected loads. [17] L. Wang and J.-Y. Su, Effects of long-shunt and short-shunt connections
An embedded monitoring and control system has also been on voltage variations of a self-excited induction generator, IEEE Trans.
implemented to capture the available electrical data of the Energy Convers., vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 368374, Dec. 1997.
[18] C.-H. Lee and L. Wang, A novel analysis of parallel operated self-
studied MHP unit under different operating conditions. Both excited induction generators, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 13,
steady-state and dynamic measured results of the studied MHP no. 2, pp. 117123, Jun. 1998.
unit have been carried out and analyzed. The results show [19] L. Wang and J.-Y. Su, Dynamic performances of an isolated self-excited
induction generator under various loading conditions, IEEE Trans. En-
that the proposed prototype MHP unit based on an underwater ergy Convers., vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 93100, Mar. 1999.
turbine generator has the ability to supply the required power to [20] L. Wang and C.-H. Lee, Dynamic analyses of parallel operated self-
the connected loads. excited induction generators feeding an induction motor load, IEEE
Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 479485, Sep. 1999.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of W.-T. Lin
and Y.-C. Lee of the Department of Irrigation and Engineering,
Council of Agriculture. Kind support and help of H.-Y. Chang,
C.-C. Yu, C.-T. Tsai, H.-S. Chang, and others of the Yunlin
Irrigation Association, Yulin, Taiwan, are appreciated.

Li Wang (S87M88SM05) received the Ph.D.

R EFERENCES degree from the Department of Electrical Engineer-
ing, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan,
[1] CIGRE, Modeling New Forms of Generation and Storage, Paris, France,
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[9] S. Nababan, E. Muljadi, and F. Blaabjerg, An overview of power topolo- on March 12, 1986. He graduated from the Depart-
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Aalborg, Denmark, Jun. 2528, 2012, pp. 737744. University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan, in 2008
[10] T. Sakurai, H. Funato, and S. Ogasawara, Fundamental characteristics of and received the M.Sc. degree from the Department
test facility for micro hydroelectric power generation system, in Proc. of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung
6th IEEE IPEMC, Wuhan, China, May 1720, 2009, pp. 26122617. University, Tainan City, Taiwan, in 2010.
[11] T. Hoq, N. U. A., N. Islam, I. Sina, K. Syfullah, and R. Rahman, Micro He is currently with the Department of Electrical
hydro power: Promising solution for off-grid renewable energy source, Engineering, National Cheng Kung University. His
Int. J. Sci. Eng. Res., vol. 2, no. 12, pp. 15, Dec. 2011. research interests are power electronics and the simu-
[12] O. Paish, Small hydro power: Technology and current status, Renew. lation and design of a variable-frequency transformer
Sustainable Energy Rev., vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 537556, Dec. 2002. connected between two grids.
2760 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 49, NO. 6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013

Shen-Ron Jan was born in Tainan City, Taiwan, on Hao-Wen Li was born in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan,
July 18, 1986. He graduated from the Department on August 4, 1987. He graduated from the Depart-
of Electrical Engineering, National Formosa Univer- ment of Electrical Engineering, National Kaohsiung
sity, Yunlin County, Taiwan, in 2008 and received the University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung City,
M.Sc. degree from the Department of Electrical En- Taiwan, in 2009 and received the M.Sc. degree
gineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Na-
City, in 2010. tional Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan,
He is currently with the Department of Electrical in 2011.
Engineering, National Cheng Kung University. His He is currently with the Department of Electrical
research interests include power system stability, Engineering, National Cheng Kung University. His
wind power generation systems, wave-energy power research interests include power system stability,
generation systems, variable-frequency transformers, flywheel energy-storage wind power generation systems, wave-energy power generation systems, su-
systems, and high-voltage direct-current links. perconducting magnetic energy storage, and unified power flow controllers.