Permanent Magnet Generator for a Gearless Backyard Wind Turbine

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a permanent magnet generator for a gearless backyard wind turbine. The magnetisation characteristics of the rotor steel and the stator at different field strength ranges were considered at the design stage and mathematically described using a model in Matlab. The detailed calculations and the design of the planar model were carried out using FEMM software. The high-quality results obtained from the calculations shown in the paper made it possible to make a real model of the generator. This paper presents views of the stator package, the rotor, the entire generator and selected test results. The parameter of this turbine that distinguishes it from a wide range of manufactured generators is its low, non-standard rotational speed and low breakaway torque, which allows the power plant to start in winds of approximately 2 m/s. Other advantages of this generator is its low weight resulting from the use of a light rotor and light alloys for the generator housing.

Keywords

• cogging torque minimization
• rotational speed
• steel magnetisation
• domestic wind turbine
• magnet machines