Design and Finite Element Analysis of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator for Wind Turbine Application

Today, the demand for renewable energy sources is increasing day by day in order to reduce fossil fuels and meet the increasing energy demand. The fact that wind energy is suitable for energy production at continuous or low wind speed depending on geographical conditions increases its importance among eco-friendly energy sources. However, energy efficiency is one of the most important issues in the renewable energy field because energy production from these energy sources is constantly changing due to climate changes. Therefore, it is very important to use renewable energy sources efficiently and to enable innovative developments that will increase energy efficiency. In this chapter, a more efficient wind turbine alternator is modeled and analyzed in detail by using the ANSYS/Maxwell software program. The main objective of this chapter is to create an efficient alternator model used in both vertical and horizontal wind turbines. This alternator model is selected as a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) since there is no need for external excitation, smaller in size and easy to control. Firstly, the parameters are determined by using the mathematical model of the alternator. Secondly, the alternator is modeled and designed with the help of the design parameters such as pole pair, magnetizing inductance, the stator leakage, winding properties, number of turns and slots, etc. During the design process, all materials of the alternator are designed by taking into consideration of characteristic features of them. Finally, the designed alternator is electromagnetically analyzed thanks to ANSYS/Maxwell Electromagnetic Suit program which uses the Finite Element Method (FEM). Therefore, the electrical efficiency of the wind turbine alternator at different wind speeds is performed and the optimum design of the alternator is obtained. It is hoped that this study will guide for wind power plant operators and researchers interested in wind turbine design parameters.