This thesis is concerned with the material processing, photophysical and third-order nonlinear optical responses, and applications of a set of conjugated polymers in the telecommunication regions. Polyacetylene-based third-order nonlinear optical materials were chosen as candidates for all-optical signal and image processing. Substituted polyacetylenes were obtained using ring-opening metathesis polymerization of mono-substituted cyclooctatetraenes. Polymerization and processing conditions have been developed to generate thick, large-area films possessing large third-order nonlinearities in the telecommunication bands. The good optical quality of a 200 μm thick substituted polyacetylene film allowed for image correlation via off-resonant degenerated four-wave mixing with improved diffraction efficiency. Poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)-(phenylene vinylene)) (MEH-PPV) and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) composites showed strong nonlinear absorption and potential as optical limiters in the region of 700-900 nm. High optical quality, thick film of MEH-PPV:PCBM with the plasticizer dioctylphthalate (DOP) were made. Optical limiting of femtosecond and nanosecond pulses in the near infrared on these composites showed strong power suppression over a broad temporal regime. Femtosecond and nanosecond transient studies on the same thick MEH-PPV:PCBM:DOP composite films and the experimental results showed evidence for the photogeneration of radical ions as being responsible for the enhanced nonlinear absorption and strong optical suppression in the near infrared. Dithienopyrrole-based donor-acceptor copolymers with narrow bandgap showed strong nonlinear absorption and potential as optical limiters in the telecommunication wavelengths. Molecular engineering was applied to manipulate the spectral overlap of two-photon absorption and subsequent nonlinear absorptions. Femtosecond transient spectroscopy showed near infrared transient absorption and 22 - 61% yields of photogenerated charge-transfer species depending on donor-acceptor coupling strength. Torsional fluctuations of the backbone structure potentially affected the excited state behavior. Evidence suggests that ultrafast relaxation occurs to ground state and to long-lived charge-transfer state from the initially excited state. The dispersion of nonlinear absorption measured using the Z-scan method revealed large two-photon absorption cross sections of these polymers in the telecommunication region. Large suppression of nanosecond pulses at 1064 nm was achieved.

The percentage of renewable energy within the global electric power generation portfolio is expected to increase rapidly over the next few decades due to increasing concerns about climate change, fossil fuel costs, and energy security. Solar thermal energy, also known as concentrating solar power (CSP), is emerging as an important solution to new demands for clean, renewable electricity generation. Dish-Stirling (DS) technology, a form of CSP, is a relatively new player in the renewable energy market, although research in the technology has been ongoing now for nearly thirty years. The first large plant utilizing DS technology, rated at 1.5 MW, came online in January 2010 in Peoria, AZ, and plants rated for several hundred MW are in the planning stages. Increasing capacity of this technology within the utility grid requires extensive dynamic simulation studies to ensure that the power system maintains its safety and reliability in spite of the technological challenges that DS technology presents, particularly related to the intermittency of the energy source and its use of a non-conventional asynchronous generator. The research presented in this thesis attempts to fill in the gaps between the well established research on Stirling engines in the world of thermodynamics and the use of DS systems in electric power system applications, a topic which has received scant attention in publications since the emergence of this technology. DS technology uses a paraboloidal shaped dish of mirrors to concentrate sunlight to a single point. The high temperatures achieved at the focal point of the mirrors is used as a heat source for the Stirling engine, which is a closed-cycle, external heat engine. Invented by the Scottish clergyman Robert Stirling in 1816, the Stirling engine is capable of high efficiency and releases no emissions, making it highly compatible with concentrated solar energy. The Stirling engine turns a squirrel-cage induction generator, where electricity is delivered through underground cables from thousands of independent, autonomous 10-25 kW rated DS units in a large solar farm. A dynamic model of the DS system is presented in this thesis, including models of the Stirling engine working gas and mechanical dynamics. Custom FORTRAN code is written to model the Stirling engine dynamics within PSCAD/EMTDC. The Stirling engine and various other components of the DS system are incorporated into an electrical network, including first a single-machine, infinite bus network, and then a larger 12-bus network including conventional generators, loads, and transmission lines. An analysis of the DS control systems is presented, and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the system's steady state and dynamic behavior within these electric power networks. Potential grid interconnection requirements are discussed, including issues with power factor correction and low voltage ride-through, and simulation results are provided to illustrate the dish-Stirling system's capability for meeting such requirements.

Electric power has become a basic necessity of human life. The major share of electric power comes from fossil fuel which results in global warming and pollution. A share of generated power comes from nuclear power which is equally dangerous. Big hydro projects take away lots of fertile land. The continuous usage of fossil fuel also poses a threat of petroleum and coal getting over in the near future. The only way out of this energy scarcity is to depend more and more on renewable sources like solar, wind and micro-hydro. At present, instead of having preference over any particular source of renewable energy, effort should be made to extract power from every possible energy source available in whatever form it is and use it in an optimal way. Like any renewable energy sources, the wind power contains large potential for harnessing energy that has been well understood hundreds of years ago. The importance of wind power generation has come to focus recently both at installation and research level and lot of activities are being carried out for efficient use of wind energy. There are different types of wind turbine designs available in the literature. But the most commercially used model is the two or three blade horizontal axis propeller type wind turbine. Research has shown that variable speed operation of this type of turbine is advantageous over fixed speed operation in terms of total energy synthesis. The most commonly used machines for wind power conversion are synchronous machine, squirrel cage induction machine and slip ring induction machine (SRIM). Variable speed operation using synchronous machine or squirrel cage induction machine requires large ratings of the power converters. However, SRIM based variable speed wind generator is advantageous over other schemes due to its inherent advantages like lower power rating for the converters, higher energy capture and the flexibility of sharing reactive power between the stator and the rotor. SRIM is used for both grid connected and stand alone applications and have been reported in the literature. The grid connected applications have received major attention in the literature whereas there are only a very few instances of its stand alone counterparts. There are many places both within and outside India where utility grid has not yet reached or the available grid is very weak. Moreover, in many of the places, the transmission line is so long that the losses in the system are extremely high. Isolated wind power generation can be of great advantage in such places where the available wind power is harnessed and utilized locally. This has been the motivation to go for proposing an isolated wind power generation scheme in this thesis. The proposed scheme is designed to supply power to the load even when very low or no wind power is available. Therefore, a battery bank is also a part of the system. The power converter assembly of the proposed scheme has three major components. One is the rotor side converter which is connected to the rotor terminals of the SRIM. The second one is the stator side converter with output LC filter which is connected to the stator side. These two converters share a common DC link which is interfaced to the battery bank through a multi phase bi-directional fly-back DC-DC converter. Fig. 1. Overall block diagram of the proposed stand alone wind power generator Functionally, this thesis proposes a system as shown in Fig. 1, which has primarily two components with multiple energy ports viz. (i) the SRIM is one triple energy port component and (ii) the proposed power conditioner is another triple energy port component. The SRIM device consists of (i) a mechanical energy port that is interfaced with the windmill shaft (ii) an AC port through the stator windings that is interfaced with the micro-grid/load and (iii) a third port which is also an AC port through the rotor windings of the SRIM that interfaces with an AC port of the proposed power conditioner. The proposed power conditioner is another triple energy port device which consists of (i) a DC energy port that interfaces with a battery/accumulator, (ii) an AC port that interfaces with the rotor windings of the SRIM and (iii) another AC port that generates the micro-grid that is connected to the load and the stator port of the SRIM. The proposed power conditioner provides the frame work for managing the energy flow from the mechanical port of the SRIM to the rotor and accumulator as well as from the mechanical port to the stator/load and accumulator. Further, energy interaction can also take place between the stator and the rotor externally through the power conditioner. The power interfaces on all three energy ports of the proposed power conditioner poses several challenges that have been discussed in this thesis. This thesis focuses on developing schemes to solve these challenges as explained below. Speed sensorless control is a natural choice for slip ring induction machine because of the flexibility of sensing both stator and rotor currents. There are different methods proposed in the literature which deal with the speed sensorless control of slip ring induction machine. However, the elimination of the measurement noise in the flux position estimation is not sufficiently addressed. It is important to address this issue as this would lead to deterioration in rotor side control of SRIM if the measurement noise is not eliminated. Primarily, the schemes which use algebraic relation between the estimated rotor current in stator reference frame and the sensed rotor current, are prone to measurement noise. On the other hand, the schemes, which use rotor back-emf integration, are affected by DC drift problems, though they are not much affected by measurement noise. The proposed stator flux position estimation scheme incorporates the benefits obtained from both the above schemes while eliminating the disadvantages inherent to them. The rotor flux position is estimated by integrating the rotor back-electromotive force. The stator flux is then obtained from the rotor flux estimate. This integration mechanism leads to several problems like dc drift and lack of error decaying mechanism. This estimation scheme solves the above problems including reduction in the propagation of noise in the sensed current to the estimated rotor side unit vectors. On the implementation front, this scheme also eliminates the need for differentiating the unit vectors for estimating slip frequency. This makes the proposed flux estimator very robust. The proposed scheme is simulated and experimentally verified. There is an internal DC bus within the proposed power conditioner that manages the energy flow through the three energy ports. The internal DC bus is interfaced to an external accumulator or battery through a power interface called the multi phase bi-directional dc-dc converter. It is generally advantageous to have the motor rated for higher voltages in order to achieve better efficiencies for a given power rating as compared to low voltage motors. This implies higher DC bus voltage. On the other hand, it is advantageous to have the battery bank rated for low voltage in order to improve the volumetric efficiency which is better at lower battery bank voltages. Both these are contradictory requirements. The above problem is solved in this thesis by proposing a multi power port topology using a bidirectional fly-back converter that is capable of handling multiple power sources and still maintain simplicity and features like high gain, wide load variations and lower output current ripple. As a spin-off, the scheme can handle parallel energy transfer from even a eutectic combination of batteries without any additional control circuitry for parallel operation. Further, the scheme also incorporates a novel transformer winding technique which significantly reduces the leakage inductance of the coupled inductor. The proposed multi-port bidirectional converter is analyzed by including non-idealities like leakage inductance. The DC bus voltage regulation requirement is not very stringent because it is not directly fed to any load. Therefore, hysteresis voltage regulation with small proportional correction is used for DC bus voltage control. The proposed converter is built and experimentally verified in the proposed system as well as in a hybrid-electric vehicle prototype. The third port of the proposed power conditioner interfaces with the stator of the SRIM and the load. The stator/load needs to be connected to a stiff micro-grid. The control requirement of the micro-grid is very stringent because, even for a sudden variation in the wind speed or the load, the grid voltage magnitude and frequency should not change. The dynamic response of the grid voltage controller has to be very fast. Moreover, the grid voltage must be balanced in presence of unbalanced loading. This thesis proposes a converter called the stator side converter along with three phase L-C filter at its output to form the micro-grid. A generalized control scheme is proposed wherein the negative sequence components and the harmonics can be eliminated at the micro-grid by means of feed-forward compensators included in the fundamental positive synchronous reference frame alone. The theoretical foundation for this scheme is developed and discussed in the thesis. In isolated locations linear loads constitute a significant percentage of the total load. Therefore, on the implementation front, only the compensation of fundamental negative sequence is demonstrated. One more necessity for compensating the fundamental negative sequence is that, the SRIM offers only leakage impedance to the fundamental negative sequence components resulting in high fundamental negative sequence current even for a small fundamental negative sequence voltage present at the micro-grid. The proposed scheme ensures balanced three phase currents at the SRIM windings and the full unbalanced current is provided from the stator side converter. This scheme is validated both by simulation and experimentation. The proposed power conditioner is integrated and used in the implementation of the entire wind power generation scheme that is proposed in the thesis. The maximum power point tracking of the wind power unit is also incorporated in the proposed system. The simulation and experimental results are also presented. Finally, the engineering issues involved in the implementation of the proposed scheme are discussed in detail highlighting the hardware configuration and the equipments used. The wind turbine is emulated using a chopper controlled DC motor. The shaft torque of the DC motor is controlled to give the Cp−λ characteristic of a typical windmill. The control issues of the DC machine to behave as a wind turbine are also explained. Finally the thesis is concluded by a statement of potentials and possibilities for future work in this research area.

This dissertation focuses on near-field radiative transfer, which can be defined as the discipline concerned with energy transfer via electromagnetic waves at sub-wavelength distances. Three specific subjects related to this discipline are investigated, namely nearfield thermal radiation, nanoscale-gap thermophotovoltaic (nano-TPV) power generation and optical characterization. An algorithm for the solution of near-field thermal radiation problems in one-dimensional layered media is developed, and several tests are performed showing the accuracy, consistency and versatility of the procedure. The possibility of tuning near-field radiative heat transfer via thin films supporting surface phononpolaritons (SPhPs) in the infrared is afterwards investigated via the computation of the local density of electromagnetic states and the radiative heat flux between two films. Results reveal that due to SPhP coupling, fine tuning of near-field radiative heat transfer is possible by solely varying the structure of the system, the structure being the film thicknesses and their distance of separation. The coexistence of two regimes of near-field thermal radiation between two thin films of silicon carbide is demonstrated via numerical simulations and an asymptotic analysis of the radiative heat transfer coefficient. The impacts of thermal effects on the performances of nano-TPV power generators are investigated via the solution of the coupled near-field thermal radiation, charge and heat transport problem. The viability of nano-TPV devices proposed so far in the literature, based on a tungsten radiator at 2000 K and indium gallium antimonide cell, is questioned due to excessive heating of the junction converting thermal radiation into electricity. Using a convective thermal management system, a heat transfer coefficient as high as 105 Wm-2K-1 is required to maintain the junction at room temperature. The possibility of characterizing non-intrusively, and potentially in real-time, nanoparticles from 5 nm to 100 nm in size via scattered surface wave is explored. The feasibility of the characterization framework is theoretically demonstrated via a sensitivity analysis of the scattering matrix elements. Measurements of the scattering matrix elements for 200 nm and 50 nm gold spherical particles show the great sensitivity of the characterization tool, although an ultimate calibration is difficult with the current version of the experimental set-up.

Most mature oil reservoirs or fields tend to perform below expectations, owing to high level of associated gas production. This creates a sub-optimal performance of the oil production surface facilities; increasing oil production specific operating cost. In many scenarios oil companies flare/vent this gas. In addition to oil production constraints, associated gas flaring and venting consists an environmental disasters and economic waste. Significant steps are now being devised to utilise associated gas using different exploitation techniques. Most of the technologies requires large associated gas throughput. However, small-scale associated gas resources and non-associated natural gas reserves (commonly referred to as stranded gas or marginal field) remains largely unexploited. Thus, the objective of this thesis is to evaluate techno- economic of gas turbine engines for onsite electric power generation called gas- to-wire (GTW) using the small-scaled associated gas resources. The range of stranded flared associated gas and non-associated gas reserves considered is around 10 billion to 1 trillion standard cubic feet undergoing production decline. The gas turbine engines considered for power plant in this study are based on simple cycle or combustion turbines. Simple cycle choice of power-plant is conceived to meet certain flexibility in power plant capacity factor and availability during production decline. In addition, it represents the basic power plant module cable of being developed into other power plant types in future to meet different local energy requirements. This study developed a novel gas-to-wire techno-economic and risk analysis framework, with capability for probabilistic uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method. It comprises an iterative calculation of the probabilistic recoverable reserves with decline module and power plant thermodynamic performance module enabled by Turbomatch (an in-house code) and Gas Turb® software coupled with economic risk modules with @Risk® commercial software. This algorithm is a useful tool for simulating the interaction between disrupted gas production profiles induced by production decline and its effect on power plant techno-economic performance over associated gas utilization economic life. Furthermore, a divestment and make- up fuel protocol is proposed for management of gas turbine engine units to mitigate economical underperformance of power plant regime experienced due to production decline. The results show that utilization of associated gas for onsite power generation is a promising technology for converting waste to energy. Though, associated gas composition can be significant to gas turbine performance but a typical Nigerian associated gas considered is as good as a regular natural gas. The majority of capital investment risk is associated with production decline both natural and manmade. Finally, the rate of capital investment returns decreases with smaller reserves.

Detta examensarbete vänder sig till personer som är intresserade att använda nya miljövänligametoderna för elproduktion eller personer som redan använder små vindkraftverk ochsolpaneler med behovet av en extra energikälla i små stugor eller avlägsna platser där tillgångentill elnät är omöjligt. Syften i detta arbete är först och främst att bygga ett system förelproduktion med hjälp av en cykel. Sedan bestämma mängden av elektrisk energi en personkan alstra med systemet. Slutligen svara om detta system skulle kunna använda som ettstödsystem för elproduktion i småskalighet. Den första målsättningen är att utforma ett system med användning av kraftelektronik där denkraften som genereras matar lasterna. Den mekaniska delen kommer att konstrueras som en delav energikällan, därefter kommer det att utformas en kontroll för att styra effekten viaelektroniska komponenter, de elektriska belastningarna matas av systemet, kommer attsimuleras. För att veta den alstrade effekten till styrkrets kommer det att installeras en mätareoch en seriekommunikationsenhet för kommunikation med en dator. Det utfördes en forskning av andra system och produkter i svenska marknaden, för att svara omdetta system kan vara en reserv system för elproduktion i småskalighet. Uppförandet av ett pedalkraftssystem uppnås med användning av en tolv volt likströmsmotormed permanent magnet som energikälla. System har förmåga att visa i en LCD-skärm och sändagenom serieportarna, värde av den alstrade effekten. System kan vägleda denna effekt tillbelastningarna med hjälp av en mikrokontroll. Effekt som genereras i systemet visades att detär signifikant för att beaktas som en ytterligare energikälla, fristående eller integrerad till andra system. / This thesis is aimed at people who are interested in using the new environmentally friendlymethods of electricity generation or people who already use small wind turbines and solarpanels with the need for an additional energy source in small cabins or remote locations whereaccess to electricity networks is impossible. Aims of this work is first to build a system forgenerating electricity using a bicycle. Second is determining the amount of electrical energy aperson can generate with the system. Finally answer if this system could be used as a supportsystem for electricity generation in small scale. The first objective is to design a system using power control where the power generatedsupplied the loads. The mechanical part will be constructed as part of the energy source, thenwill be designed a control for controlling the power via electronic components, electrical loadssupplied by the system, will be simulated. To know the generated power to the control circuitwill install a meter and a serial communication device for communicating with a computer. It carries out a research on other systems and products in the Swedish market, to answer whetherthis system can be a backup system for electricity generation in small scale. The construction of a pedaling power system is achieved using a twelve volt direct currentmotor with permanent magnet as an energy source. System has the ability to show in an LCDdisplay and transmit through the serial ports, the value of the generated power. System canguide the power to the loads by using a microcontroller. Power generated by the system showedthat it is significant to be considered as an additional energy source, stand-alone or integratedwith other systems.

Electricity generated from photovoltaics (PV) promises to satisfy the world's ever-growing thirst for energy without significant pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. At present, however, PV is several times too expensive to compete economically with conventional sources of electricity delivered via the power grid. To ensure long-term success, must achieve cost parity with electricity generated by conventional sources of electricity. This requires detailed understanding of the relationship between technology and economics as it pertains to PV devices and systems. The research tasks of this thesis focus on developing and using four types of models in concert to develop a complete picture of how solar cell technology and design choices affect the quantity and cost of energy produced by PV systems. It is shown in this thesis that high-efficiency solar cells can leverage balance-of-systems (BOS) costs to gain an economic advantage over solar cells with low efficiencies. This advantage is quantified and dubbed the "efficiency premium." Solar cell device models are linked to models of manufacturing cost and PV system performance to estimate both PV system cost and performance. These, in turn, are linked to a model of levelized electricity cost to estimate the per-kilowatt-hour cost of electricity produced by the PV system. A numerical PV module manufacturing cost model is developed to facilitate this analysis. The models and methods developed in this thesis are used to propose a roadmap to high-efficiency multicrystalline silicon PV modules that achieve cost parity with electricity from the grid. The impact of PV system failures on the cost of electricity is also investigated; from this, a methodology is proposed for improving the reliability of PV inverters.

The manufacture of photovoltaic (PV) system components has a role to play in the industrialisation and poverty reduction strategies of developing countries. It has also been suggested that small scale local manufacture of balance of systems components has the potential to improve the maintenance, installation and use of the technology. However, PV is a complex technology and most developing countries have not been able to build the capabilities required to manufacture PV system components of an appropriate quality and price, either in the modern or small scale sectors. The factors that determine the success of PV manufacturers in developing countries are therefore of interest. Previous studies on learning in the PV industry have been focused on industry-wide concerns and have not explicitly addressed enterprise-level capability building or challenges specific to developing countries. In particular, there has been very little published about small scale PV manufacture. This thesis therefore aims to improve understanding of the factors that influence capability building, with a view to assisting decision making in relation to PV manufacture in developing countries. The aims of the study have been fulfilled by the development and assessment of a software simulation training tool for PV cell production line engineers, the development of an analysis framework, and application of it to several case study PV enterprises. Through the application of the framework to the case studies, it has been possible to assess the role of software simulations, the suitability of countries with different types of infrastructure for hosting PV manufacturing and the institutional arrangements or interventions that could be used to promote capability building for PV manufacturers in developing countries. While further case studies are required to make more than tentative conclusions, the framework developed and tested in this thesis may now be used as a tool to systematically and rapidly analyse the appropriateness of different types of PV manufacture in particular countries, to identify the weaknesses in their PV technological systems and therefore to suggest where resources should be invested and where appropriate institutional changes could be made. The simulation software has been demonstrated to be an effective capability building tool, thus providing one of the key elements required for successful manufacturing.

The manufacture of photovoltaic (PV) system components has a role to play in the industrialisation and poverty reduction strategies of developing countries. It has also been suggested that small scale local manufacture of balance of systems components has the potential to improve the maintenance, installation and use of the technology. However, PV is a complex technology and most developing countries have not been able to build the capabilities required to manufacture PV system components of an appropriate quality and price, either in the modern or small scale sectors. The factors that determine the success of PV manufacturers in developing countries are therefore of interest. Previous studies on learning in the PV industry have been focused on industry-wide concerns and have not explicitly addressed enterprise-level capability building or challenges specific to developing countries. In particular, there has been very little published about small scale PV manufacture. This thesis therefore aims to improve understanding of the factors that influence capability building, with a view to assisting decision making in relation to PV manufacture in developing countries. The aims of the study have been fulfilled by the development and assessment of a software simulation training tool for PV cell production line engineers, the development of an analysis framework, and application of it to several case study PV enterprises. Through the application of the framework to the case studies, it has been possible to assess the role of software simulations, the suitability of countries with different types of infrastructure for hosting PV manufacturing and the institutional arrangements or interventions that could be used to promote capability building for PV manufacturers in developing countries. While further case studies are required to make more than tentative conclusions, the framework developed and tested in this thesis may now be used as a tool to systematically and rapidly analyse the appropriateness of different types of PV manufacture in particular countries, to identify the weaknesses in their PV technological systems and therefore to suggest where resources should be invested and where appropriate institutional changes could be made. The simulation software has been demonstrated to be an effective capability building tool, thus providing one of the key elements required for successful manufacturing.

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή εντάσσεται στο πλαίσιο που αφορά στο πεδίο ελέγχου συστημάτων ισχύος και ειδικότερα στην εφαρμογή προηγμένων μεθόδων στην ανάλυση και τον έλεγχο στρεφόμενων ηλεκτρικών μηχανών οδηγούμενων από ηλεκτρονικές διατάξεις ισχύος. Ειδικότερα, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα ακριβή μη γραμμικά μοντέλα των μετατροπέων ισχύος και των ηλεκτρικών μηχανών, αναλύεται η μορφή και η συμπεριφορά των ολοκληρωμένων συστημάτων που χρησιμοποιούνται για την οδήγηση των μηχανών και αποδεικνύεται ότι τα μοντέλα αυτά μπορούν να περιγραφούν με τη γενική παθητική Hamiltonian μορφή. Οι ηλεκτρονικές διατάξεις ισχύος που μελετώνται είναι ο μετατροπέας ΣΡ/ΣΡ ανύψωσης τάσης και ο τριφασικός μετατροπέας σε λειτουργία ανορθωτή και μετατροπέα, ενώ επίσης μελετώνται οι μηχανές ΣΡ ξένης διέγερσης και με διέγερση σε σειρά καθώς επίσης και η τριφασική επαγωγική μηχανή. Έχοντας αναπτύξει τα πλήρη μοντέλα, προτείνεται ένας νέος μη γραμμικός νόμος ελέγχου κατάλληλος για τη γενική παθητική Hamiltonian μορφή των συστημάτων τα οποία περιλαμβάνουν διακοπτικούς μετατροπείς ισχύος. Μια εκτενής μη γραμμική μαθηματική ανάλυση αποδεικνύει ότι ο προτεινόμενος νόμος ελέγχου εγγυάται ευστάθεια και σύγκλιση στο επιθυμητό σημείο ισορροπίας για το σύστημα κλειστού βρόχου. Ο έλεγχος αυτός εφαρμόζεται για τον έλεγχο κινητήρων ΣΡ οδηγούμενων από μετατροπέα ΣΡ/ΣΡ ανύψωσης τάσης καθώς και στην τριφασική επαγωγική μηχανή. Η ανάλυση και η εφαρμογή του ελέγχου οδηγεί στην ανάγκη για επεκτάσεις στη μορφή του ώστε να αυξηθεί η σθεναρότητά του ως προς τις αρχικές συνθήκες, να βελτιωθεί η μεταβατική του συμπεριφορά και να εφαρμοστεί κατάλληλα σε τριφασικούς μετατροπείς ισχύος ώστε να εγγυάται συγκεκριμένες λειτουργίες όπως γραμμική διαμόρφωση. Με την εφαρμογή του ελέγχου στην επαγωγική μηχανή, προτείνεται μια πλήρης σχεδίαση που λειτουργεί είτε βασιζόμενη στη λογική του προσανατολισμένου πεδίου, είτε πλήρως ανεξάρτητα από αυτή, ενώ μελετάται και η συμπεριφορά του σε καταστάσεις εξασθένησης πεδίου. Τέλος, η λογική του ελέγχου επιβεβαιώνεται σε ένα σύστημα ανεμογεννήτριας συνδεδεμένης στο δίκτυο μέσω πλήρους συστήματος μετατροπέων ισχύος με διασύνδεση συνεχούς ρεύματος. Σε όλες τις περιπτώσεις παρουσιάζονται προσομοιώσεις και κατά το δυνατό πειραματικά αποτελέσματα μέσω κατάλληλων εργαστηριακών διατάξεων. / The present PhD dissertation is addressed in the research field of control of power systems and more precisely in providing advanced methods for the analysis and control of electrical machines driven by power devices. Particularly, taking into account the accurate nonlinear models of the power converters and the electrical machines, the structure and the behavior of the complete models used for machine driving are analyzed based on the generalized Hamiltonian-passive form. The power converters discussed are the DC/DC boost converter and the three-phase power converter used as a rectifier or an inverter, while the separately-excited and the series-connected DC motors along with the three-phase induction machine are studied as well. After providing the complete dynamic models, a new nonlinear control scheme suitable for the generalized Hamiltonian-passive systems with switching devices is proposed. Using an extended mathematical analysis, it is proven that the proposed controller guarantees stability and convergence to the desired equilibrium for the closed-loop system. The proposed control application is tested for DC drive systems fed by DC/DC boost converters as well as for induction motor systems fed by AC/DC/AC converters. The control analysis and application leads to the extension of the control structure in order to increase the robustness with respect to the initial conditions, to improve the transient performance and to be suitably applied in three-phase power converter systems, guaranteeing simultaneously certain operating constraints such as linear modulation. For the case of the induction motor control, a complete form of the controller is proposed that acts either in the frame of field-orientation or independently from it, while the controller is also studied in field-weakening conditions. Finally, the controller performance is studied in a wind generating system connected to the grid through a full-scale power converter. In all cases, simulation results are presented while experimental results are provided where possible by using suitable laboratory testbeds.