Detailed Design Procedures for Low-Speed, Small-Scale, PMSG Direct-Driven by Wind Turbines

This paper is dedicated to demonstrate step by step procedures used to design a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) for small-scale, low speed applications. The main target of this work is the generator directly connected to the prime mover and in the fractional or few kilowatts range. A linear lumped-element-based model is presented, which is used for basic analysis and design. Then, a proposed complete design procedure - asserted with equations, tables, design limits and practical recommendations - are detailed. Also, a flowchart is developed to be later used as a Matlab M-file code for PMSG design with specific requirements. The design procedures are then validated using different techniques including: a) Finite Element Method (FEM) using Maxwell software, through different case studies, b) results comparison with different available generators from both research work and commercial one, and c) experimental results obtained from actual prototype machine implemented by the authors. Such comparisons have validated the proposed procedures as a contributed step-by-step simple and reliable design tool for such cluster of PMSGs.