Installation of a 400-W wind turbine generator on a commercial fishing boat to achieve energy saving

This paper presents field-measurement results of a small 400-W wind turbine generator (WTG) installed on a commercial 9.8-ton fishing boat to achieve the goal of energy saving. The Darrieus-type WTG consisting of three stainless blades, a coreless permanent-magnet generator (PMG), and a maximum-power-point-tracking controller is employed in this study. The output of the wind PMG is connected to the battery of the fishing boat through an AC-DC converter and a battery charger. A PLC-based monitoring and control system is also properly designed and installed on the fishing boat to effectively capture all measured electrical quantities of the studied WTG and the battery on the fishing boat under various wind speeds and sailing conditions. Transient measured charging results of the battery from the studied WTG system and the diesel-engine generator (DEG) under various wind speeds are also analyzed.