A microturbine based power generation system and method

A power electrical system (37) is disclosed to connect a microturbine (12) and an electrical machine (14) to electrical power sources (18, 44) and a load (16). The invention permits the microturbine to be started using an external DC power source (18) and/or an external AC power source (44). DC power is converted to AC power by means of a buck-boost chopper (30), DC bus (24) and a DC-to-AC converter (42). AC power, from the AC power source, is converted to frequencies and voltages suitable to start a microturbine by a pair of DC-to-AC converters (42, 46) and the DC bus (24). The frequency and voltage levels of the AC power are gradually increased to accelerate the microturbine to startup speed. Once the microturbine is started, the external power sources are disconnected, and the DC bus and the DC-to-AC converters produce output AC power at a voltage level and frequency to match an electrical load.