Windpower Engineering & Development

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Most recent posts
    • News
    • Featured
  • Resources
    • Digital issues
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
    • Events
  • Videos
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Efficient generator stays cool and does not cog

By Paul Dvorak | June 17, 2009

Generators from Clean Energy range from 1 kW to 500 kW in eight models.

Generators from Clean Energy range from 1 kW to 500 kW in eight models.

Clean Energy Technologies, Calgary, Alberta, Canada  is said to have developed a generator for wind turbines that is more efficient than existing designs. The company’s Axial Flux Permanent Magnet (AFPM) generators work at high efficiencies and produce more power at lower wind speeds due to a coreless design. The generators eliminate traditional cogging issues which makes them well suited for wind-turbine applications.

Traditional or radial-flux permanent magnets (RFPM) orient the magnetic flux outward or radially from the turbine shaft while the AFPM design works by orienting the magnetic flux along the axis of the turbine shaft. A coil wraps around a disc at the center axis. Magnetic discs then rotate on the sides of the coil disc and generate electricity. This kind of power generation is said to be ideal for wind power applications because its initial operating torque (cut-in speed) is lower than existing RFPM methods.

AFPM power generation divides into inner and outer classifications. With an inner configuration, only the magnetic disk rotates while the generator housing remains fixed. In the outer configuration, the whole generator body rotates by fixing the magnetic disk to the body. Application requirements determine the configuration.

There is another consideration. A generator producing electricity also produces heat. As the heat increases, efficiency decreases. To solve this problem, Clean Energy generators are liquid cooled. This significantly reduces, says the company, the wear that high temperatures cause, and thus improves the generator’s life-span. The table compares a few details of the competing designs.

Clean Energy table generators


Filed Under: Generators
Tagged With: noncogging generators, Wind Power Generators
 

About The Author

Paul Dvorak

Comments

  1. Guillaume Allen says

    January 20, 2014 at 1:38 pm

    Hi,

    I am looking to buy an AC 120/220 V 60 hz magnet alternator. Capacity between 3 to 5 kw.
    Please let me know if you have such a product and how much it would be.

    Best regards

Related Articles Read More >

The ELF not welcome in the wind industry
PM generator manufacturer The Switch becomes Yaskawa Environmental energy Division
Large offshore turbines have reached remarkable outputs & will likely get larger
Generator circuit breakers have special requirements for generator protection

Podcasts

Wind Spotlight: Looking back at a year of Thrive with ZF Wind Power
See More >

Windpower Engineering & Development Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Browse the most current issue of Windpower Engineering & Development and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading wind power engineering magazine today.

Windpower Engineering & Development
  • Wind Articles
  • Solar Power World
  • Subscribe to Windpower Engineering
  • About Us/Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising

Search Windpower Engineering & Development

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Most recent posts
    • News
    • Featured
  • Resources
    • Digital issues
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
    • Events
  • Videos
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe