Synchronous Switching of Non-Line-Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines from Inverter to Grid Drives

Non-line-start permanent magnet synchronous machines (NLSPMSMs) are normally considered not able to operate stably under grid drive. However, this paper proposes an effective control strategy to achieve soft start and synchronous switching of NLSPMSMs from inverter to grid drives so that to extend the application field. The system electromechanical model during switching is deduced and analyzed numerically to verify the stability under grid drive. For the control strategy, model-based sliding-mode observer is adopted during soft start for low-cost position sensorless drive, and two digital phase lock loops are used to obtain the phases of grid and inverter voltages for phase tracking. Experiments are carried out on five NLSPMSMs with different rated powers and velocities, and test results show that all these prototypes can be safely switched to grid drive and robust to load variation. Tested waveforms are coincident with numerical analysis, and the system efficiencies of NLSPMSMs under inverter and grid drives are compared.