A micro wind power generation system using permanent magnet reluctance generator

Permanent magnet reluctance generator (PMRG) has robust construction similar to switched reluctance generator (SRG), but PMRG requires no excitation unlike SRG. So, PMRG is suitable for a micro wind generation system because of its low cost on manufacturing and its simple control circuit. In the paper, a 250-watt micro wind power generation system using PMRG is proposed. First, a new magnetic circuit model of the PMRG is proposed and simulated dynamically with the power converter by a general-purpose circuit simulator. It is confirmed that the proposed model is acceptable by comparing with calculation results of finite element analysis (FEM). Second, the proposed micro wind generation system is totally simulated using the magnetic circuit model of the PMRG with power converters, maximum power tracking control scheme, and power smoothing system using electric double layer capacitor(EDLC). Finally, experimental results by a simulated wind turbine are presented. The proposed wind generation system employed with PMRG contributes to expand into low cost wind generation.