Conventional PWM converters are used for wind turbines that have a permanent-magnet alternator.
[1] Today, insulated gate bipolar transistors are typical switching devices.
In frequency converters this property makes it possible to perform regenerative braking.
PWM rectifiers are also used in distributed power generation applications, such as micro turbines, fuel cells and windmills.
The major advantage of using the pulse width modulation technique is the reduction of higher order harmonics.