XIX International Conference on Electrical Machines - ICEM 2010, Rome

Permanent Magnet Technology in Wind Power Generators

J. Pyrhnen1, J. Nerg2, P- Kurronen3, J. Puranen4, M. Haavisto5
Abstract Permanent magnet technology offers a large variety of different machine design concepts. Neodymium Iron Boron magnets dominate the market. The magnet properties and prices are nowadays acceptable but the designer must understand how to select and utilize safely the magnet materials. The use of permanent magnet generators (PMGs) is gaining popularity also in wind power generation. In practice, there are three PM wind generator alternatives: 1) direct-drive (DD) generators (10 20 min-1), 2) medium-speed (MS) generators (100 300 min-1) and 3) high-speed (HS) generators (1000 2000 min-1). Index TermsWind Power, Energy Efficiency, Permanent magnets, Magnet Properties, Permanent Magnet Generators, Direct Drive (DD), PMSM.

earth demand and this has been seen in the price development, Fig 2. However, no principal shortage of rare earth materials is visible as known sources of Nd are abundant. The known reserves of rare earth elements should last for more than 1000 years with current consumption.
500

Neodymium Iron Boron

400

BHmax / kJ/m3

300 200 100 0 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980

Samarium Cobalt

AlNiCo Ferrite
1990 2000 2010

I.

INTRODUCTION

Nd [$/kg]

II.

PERMANENT MAGNETS

30 20 10 0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Nd

A. Magnet materials The production of industrial size permanent magnet machines can still be regarded as quite a new development and customers often have doubts related to the use of PM materials. The most frequently asked questions are: What happens to the remanent flux density with time? Can the magnets be demagnetized? Are the magnets mechanically and chemically stable? How reliably are rare earth raw materials available, where are they found and what will be the price development of the materials? The rare earth based permanent magnet materials have made it possible to utilize large permanent magnet machines. However, SmCo magnets have not been effectively utilized in industrial applications because of their high prices. The basic magnetic properties of NdFeB magnets are slightly better than those of SmCo but the limited temperature stability of the material has been a major obstacle in using the material in high power applications. The development of NdFeB grades with improved temperature and corrosion resistant in the past ten years has enabled the use of efficient permanent magnet machines even in relatively large applications, such as wind turbine generators. Fig. 1 illustrates the development of the maximum energy product in the most popular permanent magnet materials during the latest seven decades. B. Magnet material availability The prices of the basic materials in Nd magnets have been quite volatile during the first decade of the millennium. Emerging new applications have already increased the rare
978-1-4244-4175-4/10/$25.00 2010 IEEE

2008

2009

2010

Fig. 2 Price development of Nd and Dy in 2003 2010 [13].

China is the major producer of Nd. Lately, development of alternative Nd sources has started which should help to stabilize the market so that no shortage of rare earth metals should occur on the market (Fig. 3).

Figure 3 Predicted development of supply and demand of Rare Earth Metals [7].

C. Demagnetization risk
Permanent magnet materials are stable within certain physical limits. NdFeB magnets must, however, be protected against demagnetization and corrosion. The principal improvements in the recent development of NdFeB magnets

Dy [$/kg]

ermanent magnet (PM) generators offer energy efficiency benefits that make them attractive in wind power generation [1,2]. PM technology offers efficient electromagnetic and constructional possibilities, such as highperformance multiple pole arrangements or outer rotor systems. Both high efficiency and high torque per volume can be reached by using permanent magnet excitation but correct magnet material selection is prerequisite to guarantee good results.

year

Fig. 1 Maximum energy product (BH)max development of permanent magnet materials [13].

60 50 40
Dy

J,B,T
1.4 1.2 20 oC o 1.0 80 C 100 oC 0.8 140 oC 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 H, kA/m -1800 -1400 -1000 -600 -200 0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1.0 -1.2 -1.4 -1.6 -1.8 -2.0

Polarization loss [%]

have been reached specifically in corrosion resistivity and high temperature tolerance. At temperatures below the Curie temperature (310 C 400 C for NdFeB depending on the grade), possible demagnetization is caused by a demagnetizing magnetic field strength. As an example we measured the demagnetization curves at different temperatures, especially in the second and third quadrant of the BH-plane for SH38 material (Figure 4).
J(H) at 20 oC

magnet operating at half of its remanent flux density, Figure 5. The polarization losses are small at temperatures lower than or equal to 110 C also in the long term. However, 120 C or higher temperatures are tolerated only for very short periods of time.
0% -5 % -10 % 120C -15 % -20 % -25 % 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000 130C 140C 100C 110C

B( H

Time [hours]
Figure 5 Measured irreversible polarization loss as a function of time in 38SH, operating at Br/2 at 100 C, 110 C, 120 C and 130 C.

Fig. 4 Permanent magnet polarization J and flux density B curves in the 2nd and 3rd quadrants of the BH-plane as functions of H measured at different temperatures for material 38SH. The measurement was done by Metis Instruments&Equipment Nvs HymPulse magnetic properties tester.

Fig. 4 exceptionally illustrates also the third quadrant of the demagnetization curves as in many PM generator designs the operating point can travel to negative flux density values during short circuits. If the demagnetizing field strength absolute values are significantly lower than the coercive field HcJ no permanent polarization loss will occur. The limiting value, however, is not clear [5]. The coersivity of the NdFeB magnets can be increased by alloying the material with other suitable rare earth metals e.g. dysprosium or terbium or by refining the grain size. Pure NdFeB material with no extra alloying elements tolerates no temperatures exceeding 60 C. With sufficient dysprosium addition the maximum working temperature of NdFeB magnets can be increased up to 200 C and above. Dysprosium addition, however, decreases the remanent flux density and increases the magnet material price. The process of permanent magnet demagnetization is both temperature and time dependent. In a constant temperature the polarization J of a magnet changes with time in a logarithmic fashion [6]: t (1) J (t , H ) = J (t 0 , H ) S ( H ) ln t0 where S is the so called magnetic viscosity constant and t0 is a reference time. Polarization, naturally, depends also on the demagnetizing field strength H. In low demagnetizing field strengths, i.e. significantly lower than the coercive field, the viscosity constant S is extremely small and polarization can be considered stable [4]. In cases where the external field approaches the coercive field HcJ, the magnetic viscosity effect starts to dominate and S will start to increase reaching its maximum at coercive field. The time dependent polarization loss has found to be linear on a logarithmic scale. Hence, it is possible to predict the long term polarization loss of permanent magnets in constant demagnetizing field conditions by measuring losses during a short period in elevated temperature and extrapolating the results for longer times. We have measured the polarization loss for 38SH magnet material with the

Polarization losses can also be determined as a function of operating temperature. Fig. 6 illustrates the behaviour of the polarization losses. At temperatures below 110 C, there will be no remarkable polarization loss during 30 years but at 120 C the loss of this type of magnet will be over 6 % with this kind of loading. The position of the polarization loss curves at the temperature scale depends not only on the material, but also on the operating point. An increase in the demagnetizing magnetic field strength will move the curves leftwards, towards lower temperatures. This time dependent loss behaviour has to be taken into account when selecting the magnet material for a specific application.
0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 100 110 120 Temperature [C] 130 140
After 1 second After 1 hour After 30 years

Figure 6 Irreversible flux loss as a function of temperature after different exposure times (38SH grade, operating at Br/2) [4]).

Of course, in high efficiency high torque machines the magnet operation flux density is often selected high, e.g. 70 80 % of the remanent flux density which results in safer operation than in the example above where 50 % of the remanent flux density was used in the operation point. The magnets will operate at low flux densities only during exceptional conditions, such as short circuits which last for a very short period of time compared to the machine lifetime. A sudden loss of polarization can, however, occur during a short circuit and this possibility must always be carefully studied during machine design. D. Mechanical protection NdFeB magnets must also be protected against mechanical and chemical loads. Being powder metallurgical products magnets are brittle, and hence, they must never be used as tensile load carrying elements. Sintered NdFeB magnets are also known to be sensitive for intergranular corrosion which could cause pulverization

Polarization loss [%]

of the magnets. By manipulating the metallurgical microstructure of the magnets, the intergranular corrosion can be minimized or prevented. Magnet coating is also an effective means of preventing corrosion. Magnets can also be protected by optimizing the machine design. Embedded magnets in vacuum pressure impregnated rotor constructions (Fig. 7) are well protected against environmental stresses and also magnetic stresses are relieved.

where Q is the number of stator slots, lambdas () are permeance coefficients (< 1, [3]) and lw the end winding length. The air gap leakage is directly proportional to the magnetizing inductance and, hence, inversely proportional to p2. Its importance in large air gap machines is small. However, Lu, Ld and Lw are proportional to the square or winding turns N. As the number of turns needed is [3]
Em 2 Em 2 Em 2 2 p (8) = = l ' k B Dl ' k w k B m w i p w i we see that Lu and Ld are proportional to p2 and Lw to p. It means that despite the moderating effect of Q and D the leakage inductance tends to increase in high pole pair machines. The maximum torque is inversely proportional to the synchronous inductance Ld = Lm + Ls (9) EPMU s N=
Tmax = p

Fig. 7 One pole of a HS machine with embedded magnets inside rotor laminations. After magnet assembly the rotor is impregnated to fill all voids with resin.

2 Ld

Rotor surface magnets can be embedded e.g. in hermetically sealed modules (Fig. 8).

In permanent magnet machines with induced per unit voltage EPM,pu = 1 and terminal voltage Us,pu = 1 the synchronous inductance must be small (Ld,max,pu 0.6 0.7) to produce enough peak torque. In different permanent magnet generator technologies the ratio of the leakage and the magnetizing inductances strongly affects the machine characteristics. In low speed high torque machines the tangential stress is tried to be maximized. The stress Ftan [Pa] is directly proportional to the air gap linear current density A [A/m] and the air gap normal flux density B [Vs/m2] [3] B cos AB cos . A (10) = =
F tan

Fig. 8 Surface magnet modules in a large direct drive PM generator (Fig. by courtesy of The Switch Drive Systems Oy).

III. PM MACHINE PRINCIPLES The magnetizing inductance Lm plays an important role in synchronous machines having m phases, p pole pairs, air gap diameter D, effective length l, effective air gap length ef and effective number of turns kw1Ns [3] mD 2 (2) Lm = 2 0l ' (k ws1 N s ) . p ef In NdFeB magnets the relative permeability r 1.04. Hence, in rotor surface magnet machines the effective air gap length becomes very large which helps to keep the magnetizing inductance small. By using the equivalent air gap e = kC that takes the stator slotting effects into account with the Carter factor kC the effective air gap ignoring the magnetic voltage of steel with permanent magnet height hPM can be calculated as h (3) + PM .
ef e

The effect of the permanent magnet on the air gap is, hence, significant. The leakage inductance is mainly composed of air gap (L), slot (Lu), tooth tip (Ld) and end winding (Lw) leakage inductances [3]: 2 = + kw (4)
L =
= 1

w1

Lm ,

4m 0 l ' N 2 u , Q 4m Ld = 0l ' N 2 d , Q Lu =
Lw = 4m 2 0 qN 2lw w = 0 N 2lw w , Q p

(5) (6) (7)

The magnet material is used most efficiently by attaching the magnets directly on the rotor surface. The magnet thickness is usually selected high so that the operating point of the magnet becomes close to the remanent flux density of the material. The per unit magnetizing inductance becomes low and the per unit stator leakage often remarkably high. This makes the short circuit tolerance good. The DD concept makes the generator design expensive as large amounts of magnet material and other active and passive materials must be used. However, no gear is needed. In DD machines high saturation flux density core material should be selected instead of low loss materials as the DD concept produces almost solely copper losses. A high saturation core material allows maximum slot surface for the winding. In MW-range DD machines the typical pole pitch limited by the maximum size of magnets is in the range of 0.1 m and the machine length is in the range of 1 1.5 m [8]. Hence, the winding type is not very essential with regard to the end winding loss minimization. Despite the large amount of air gap harmonics integral slot windings with the number of slots per phase and pole q = 1 are quite well suited for low speed PM machines. However, fractional slot winding machines with concentrated pole windings having approximately q = 0.4 0.5 can also be applied. In q = 1 machines the fundamental winding factor is kW1 = 1 and e.g. in q = 0.4 machines kW1 = 0.933 or, kW1 = 0.966 depending on the winding type. The winding material in large low speed machines is usually selected suitable for form wound windings. The need to avoid skin effect or circulating currents is not significant in low frequency machines. However, in HS designs modern Litz wire windings form an attractive solution. IV. PM TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS IN WIND POWER

Wind turbine drive trains The PM wind generator drive trains can be divided into three basic systems: 1) Higher speed (HS) drive train, 2) Medium-speed (MS) drive train and 3) Low-speed directdrive (DD) drive train all with full power converters. The HS drive train is the most popular in existing wind power systems. In this approach a mechanical gear with a gear ratio of 1:100 is used to increase the rated speed of the system up to the traditional electric machine speed in the range between 1000 and 2000 min-1. Such a speed makes the design of the electric machine itself easy and offers a compact electric machine design. HS machines are of standalone type, which also makes the responsibility issues between different drive trains component suppliers easy. Traditional slip ring induction machines are used in wind power applications. The speed varies 30 % around the synchronous speed. This results in a rotor converter having a rated power of about 30 % of the machine rated power. In principle, as the electric energy efficiency is concerned, this is a benefit as only one third of the power is maximally driven via the power electronic system operating maximally at about 97 % efficiency. However, fault situations are very challenging for the rotor converter [14] B. Permanent magnet synchronous machine in the HS system Introducing permanent magnets to the HS-drive train concept, of course, changes the situation as a full power converter is needed. The full power concept can offer effective tools e.g. to solve the problems of the DFIG system from the grid code point of view. Loss-of-mains drive through is easier with the full power converter approach. The design of the HS permanent magnet generator has not matured yet in the same way as the design of synchronous machines or induction generators. The application of a large power permanent magnet HS wind power generator is quite a new approach in itself and raises a number of challenges to the designer. Often, embedded magnets (Fig. 7) are used in HS designs to mechanically protect the magnets and to achieve a suitable safety margin against demagnetization. Short circuit rarely occurs in a converter operated machine but must still be kept as a design criterion. As the generator frequency is not wanted to increase too high HS concept machines have a relatively low amount of poles, typically 6 or 8 poles. As the magnetizing inductance is, according to Eq. (2), inversely proportional to the square of the number of the pole pairs, a low pole pair machine has a relatively high magnetizing inductance typically in the range of Lm,pu (0.4 0.5). (11) and also a fairly low stator leakage in the range of (12) Ls,pu (0.1 0.2) resulting in synchronous inductance of (13) Ls,pu (0.5 0.7). During short circuits such a machine with no damping creates a short circuit current in the range of Ik,pu (1.4 2). (14) Because of the large ratio (15) Lm,pu/Ls,pu (0.71 0.8 ) the demagnetizing current linkage mostly affects the permanent magnets and there is a risk of demagnetization during a short circuit. For example if Ik,pu = 2 and Lm,pu = 0.4 the demagnetizing per unit flux linkage will have a fundamental value of mDM,pu = Ik,pu Lm,pu = 2 0.4 = 0.8. (16)

A.

If the original permanent magnet flux linkage is in the range of unity PM,pu = 1 the flux linkage during the short circuit should be in the range of PMsc,pu = PM,pu mDM,pu = 0.2 (17) Hence, the fundamental permanent magnet flux linkage is reduced to 20 %. Normally, magnets tolerate this but, in practice, the demagnetizing flux is not evenly distributed in the magnets and there will be locations where the flux density is significantly lower and even negative in short circuit cases as the following examples will show. The demagnetization problem can, however, be solved by designing the machine so that the stator leakage is deliberately increased, the magnetizing inductance decreased and by selecting high coercive force magnets, combined with a detailed design. However, optimizing the machine to achieve both high efficiency and reduced demagnetization risk easily results in an expensive construction which might weaken the competiveness of the permanent magnet machine approach. In a real six-pole high-speed design (3 MW, PMR560 by The Switch Drive Systems Oy) with embedded magnets the tangential stress tan = 43.0 kPa, the direct-axis synchronous inductance Lmd,pu = 0.48 and the quadrature-axis synchronous inductance Lq,pu = 0.55. The stator leakage inductance is Ls,pu = 0.18. The machine efficiency is 97.5 % at the rated point. During a three phase short circuit the minimum magnet flux density goes down to 0.3 T in the worst point and very high HcJ magnets must to be used to avoid demagnetization during a short circuit. C. Permanent magnet synchronous machine in the MS system An MS generator is usually built as an integrated solution where the step up gear ratio is in the range of 1:10 1:20, and hence, the generator speed is in the range of 150 300 min-1. A compact and rugged solution can be found by using permanent magnet technology. The machine design itself is somewhat different compared to the HS approach as the number of pole pairs p in the machines is considerably larger and, hence, the per unit leakage inductance is larger. Now the demagnetization risk is significantly smaller compared to the HS approach even when rotor surface magnets are used. As an example of an integrated system figure 9 shows a gear generator construction in which the generator does not have its own bearings, but the rotor is supported by the secondary shaft of the gear. With regard to the electrical machine design the MS approach is a healthy solution. Despite the relatively low speed the machine efficiency can be optimized and a good balance between iron and copper losses can be found similarly as in the HS approach. The speed is, however, so low that the permanent magnet approach, inevitably, offers the best efficiency for the system and it should be difficult to apply other machine types unless synchronous machines are used. In the real 24-pole medium-speed design by The Switch with surface magnets the tangential stress tan = 50 kPa, Lmd,pu = Lmq,pu = 0.35. The stator leakage inductance is Ls,pu = 0.25. The machine efficiency is 96.8 % at the rated point. During a three phase short circuit the minimum magnet flux density goes down to 0.2 T in the worst point. The situation is somewhat easier than in the HS solution even though surface magnets are used instead of embedded magnets.

Figure 9 Integrated construction of a PM machine and gearbox

D. Permanent magnet synchronous machine in the DD system In a direct drive a 3 6 MW permanent magnet machine rotates only at 12 15 min-1 at the rated point. This speed is so low that the electrical machine cannot reach any more a good balance between the iron and copper losses. The copper losses dominate and the efficiency is slightly lower than in other PM solutions. Such a rated speed can be sensibly reached only with a synchronous machine or a PMSM. While using the DD concept a comparably large permanent magnet machine is needed as the whole torque of the turbine must match the generator torque. The torque of the machine, in principle, defines the rotor size of the machine as the tangential component of the Maxwells stress remains in the same range for all the different approaches. In the DD concept the maximization of the tangential stress is, naturally, one of the design principles. Here, the use of rotor surface magnets is preferable in order to get as small per unit magnetizing inductance as possible to reach high peak torque. Tangential stresses up to about 60 kPa can be used with effective air cooling. While increasing the tangential stress an even more effective cooling system is required and the rated point efficiency of the system gradually gets smaller if the torque density of the machine is increased from the present values. However, as the machine size in direct drives is very large increasing the torque density is a more attractive approach than increasing the machine size. Figure 10 illustrates the flux plot at the worst moment of a short circuit in a DD permanent magnet machine. The risk of demagnetization may be analyzed of the flux densities in different parts of the magnet(s) (Figure 11). As explained above, the temperature of the magnets is a critical parameter when considering the risk of demagnetization. It also has an effect on the performance and losses of the machine as the remanent flux density is also dependent on the magnet temperature. The higher the magnet temperature the lower is the generated voltage and the higher the current requirement in the stator and thus the higher the copper losses. In a real 120-pole direct drive inner rotor design PMR 3150 by The Switch Drive Systems Oy with rotor surface magnets the tangential stress tan = 60 kPa, Lmd,pu = Lmq,pu = 0.22. The stator leakage inductance is Ls,pu = 0.43. The machine efficiency is 94 % at the rated point. During a three phase short circuit the minimum magnet flux density goes down to 0.1 T in the worst point.

Figure 10 circuit.
1.0

Flux plot of a rotor surface magnet machine in 3 phase short

Magnet area

0.8

0.6

0.4

B (T)

0.2

Magnet outer surface Magnet inner surface

0.0

-0.2

Demagnetisation limit @ 80 C
-0.4

Pole pitch

Figure 11 Flux density in the magnets under demagnetizing effect of short circuit. As explained above the distribution of the flux density is not uniform and, in practice, only FEM results can be used to analyze the demagnetization risk in detail. The average value of the demagnetizing corresponds to the analytic approach given above.

Significant attention must be paid to the torque quality of the DD generators. It is important to have a low torque ripple as the ripple frequencies easily cause mechanical vibrations in the turbine system. Especially, at the lowest operating speeds the torque quality should be very good to avoid harmful vibrations. A high torque quality can be reached e.g. by using sinus-shaped magnets on the rotor surface [15]. The maximum recommended peak to peak torque ripple in the DD approach is 0.5 %. Fig. 12 shows, how a direct drive system may vibrate, especially, at low speed range as the turbine and heavy generator create a two mass system with a flexible shaft. Espcially, at low speeds the operation can become impossible if significant cogging is present [9, 10].
1000 900 800 700 Elem 1, Tmax=33.9% x Tn Elem 2, Tmax=28.6% x Tn

Torque (kNm)

600 500 400 300 200 100 0

10

15

20

25

Rotor speed (rpm)

Figure 12 Turbine generator torsional vibration torque in a 3.5 MW DD system with torque ripple. The ripple is strongly amplified at the start (2 min-1) and slightly also close to the rated speed (14 min-1).

V. ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT DRIVE TRAINS Often the rated point efficiency is one of the main criteria when comparing PM technology with traditional solutions.

A wind turbine is, however, normally running on partial loads and the utilization period of full load is typically in the range of 2000 3000 hours annually. As the pay pack time is mainly dependent on the total produced annual energy the whole operational range of the turbine and its electric components should be carefully studied. The operational area of the doubly fed generators is limited to about 30 % of the synchronous speed which means operating between speeds 0.54 1, while a PMgenerator produces power at relative speeds of 0.2 1. Due to these facts the overall efficiency of a PM-drive train can be higher which in turn means an increase in annual electric energy production. Four different machines were designed using good design principles: 1) a doubly fed 2 MW machine with rated speed of 1500 min-1, 2) a high speed (HS) PMSM, 1500 min-1, 3) a medium-speed (MS) PMSM, 150 min-1 and a direct drive (DD) PMSM, 15 min-1. Weibull distributions with different medium speeds and the above mentioned permanent magnet machines were used in the calculations. The gear efficiencies were evaluated according to [11, 12]. Table 1 gives the calculated annual energy production values of these 2 MW machines with the same wind turbine. The table shows clearly how, especially at low wind speeds, the PM machines operate more effectively than the DFIG.
Table 1 Annual energy production of different 2 MW wind power concepts with different average wind speeds
Average wind speed 5.4 m/s Annual Energy Production / MWh Comparison to DFIG Average wind speed 6.8 m/s Annual Energy Production / MWh Comparison to DFIG Average wind speed 8.2 m/s Annual Energy Production / MWh Comparison to DFIG 2MW Drive Trains with different generator types DFIG PMG-HS PMG-MS PMG-DD tpeak= tpeak= tpeak= tpeak= 1172 h 1274 h 1318 h 1321 h 2345 2549 2636 2641 108.5 % 100 % 104.7 % 108.3 % tpeak= tpeak= tpeak= tpeak= 2021 h 2073 h 2132 h 2117 h 4233 4041 4146 4263 105 2 % 104 % 100 % 102.6 % tpeak= tpeak= tpeak= tpeak= 2783 h 2669 h 2174 h 2750 h 5338 5427 5566 5499 100 % 101.7 % 104.3 103.0 %

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

[11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

H. Polinder, F. van der Pijl, G. Vilder, and P. Tavner, Comparison of Direct-Drive and Geared generator Concepts for Wind Turbines, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 21, no, 3, September 2006, pp. 725733. J. Pyrhonen, T. Jokinen and V. Hrbovcov, Design of rotating electrical machines, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, p. 538. M. Haavisto, and M. Paju, Temperature Stability and Flux Losses Over Time in Sintered Nd-Fe-B Permanent Magnets, IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 45, no. 12, December 2009, pp. 5277-5280. S. Ruoho, A. Arkkio, Partial Demagnetization of Permanent Magnets in Electrical Machines Caused by an Inclined Field, IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 44, No. 7, July 2008, pp. 1773-1778. R. Skomski, and J.M.D. Coey, Permanent Magnetism. Studies in Condensed Matter Physics, ed. J.M.D. Coey and D.R. Tilley. 1999, London: Institute of Physics Publishing. Willie D. Jones, IEEE Spectrum, January 2010, pp. 68 J. Pyrhnen, P. Kurronen, and A. Parviainen, Permanent Magnet 3 MW Low-Speed Generator Development, in proc. ICEM 2006. J. Sopanen, V. Ruuskanen, J. Nerg, and J. Pyrhnen, Dynamic Torque Analysis of a Wind Turbine Drive Train Including a Direct-Driven Permanent Magnet Generator, submitted to IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron. M. V. Cistelecan, M. Popescu, and M. Popescu, Study of the Number of Slots/Pole Combinations for Low Speed Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generators, in Conf. Rec. IEEE IEMDC, Antalya, Turkey, May 35, 2007, pp.16161620. Northern Power Systems Wind PACT Drive Train Alternative Design Study Report, NREL/SR-500-35524, 2004 Pettersson, A. Analysis, Modelling and Control of Doubly-Fed Induction Generators for Wind Turbines, Diss. Chalmers Univ. of Technology, 2004, ISBN 91-7291-600-1 Material of Magnet Technology Center at Prizztech Ltd. Seman, S., 2006. Transient Performance Analysis of Wind-Power Induction Generators. Doctoral Dissertation. Helsinki University of Technology, 2006. J. Pyrhnen, P. Kurronen and A. Parviainen "Permanent Magnet 3 MW Low-Speed Generator Development", International Conference on Electrical Machines, ICEM 2006, 2-5.September.2006, Chania, Greece.

VIII.

BIOGRAPHIES

The DD PMG is the best at the lowest wind speeds mainly because there are no gear losses and at low loads also the copper losses remain small. At higher wind speeds the MS PMG produces best. The HS PMG suffers from the gear losses and the DFIG also from the generator losses. VI. CONCLUSION Permanent magnet technology in wind power applications was studied. The properties of magnets were first observed and the availability of magnet materials was discussed. Different permanent magnet generator designs and their properties were observed and the energy efficiencies of different drive trains compared. The permanent magnet versions showed in this case the best energy efficiencies when the wind speed distribution was used as a basis for the annual energy production. VII.
[1]

REFERENCES

H. Li, Z. Chen, Overview of different wind generator systems and their comparisons, IET Renew. Power Gener., vol. 2, 2008, no. 2, pp. 123138.

Juha Pyrhnen (M06) became a Member (M) of IEEE in 2006. He received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering, the Licentiate of Science (Technology) degree, and D. Sc. degree (Technology) from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Lappeenranta, Finland, in 1982, 1989 and 1991, respectively. He has served as Associate Professor in Electric Engineering at LUT starting 1993 and has been appointed Professor in Electrical Machines and Drives in 1997. He worked as the Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1998 to 2006 and again since 2009. He is active in the research on and development of electric motors and electric drives. Janne Nerg (M99) became a Member (M) of IEEE in 1999. He received the M. Sc. Degree in electrical engineering, the Licentiate of Science (Technology) degree, and the D. Sc. (Technology) degree from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Lappeenranta, Finland, in 1996, 1998, and 2000, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at LUT. His research interests are in the field of electrical machines and drives, especially electromagnetic and thermal modeling and design of electromagnetic devices. Panu Kurronen received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering, the Licentiate of Science (Technology) degree, and D. Sc. degree (Technology) from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Lappeenranta, Finland, in 1990, 1994 and 2003, respectively. He is currently working as a Technical Manager in The Switch Drive Systems. Jussi Puranen received the M. Sc. degree in electrical engineering, and the D. Sc. (Technology) degree from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Lappeenranta, Finland, in 2003 and 2006, respectively. He is currently working as an electric development engineer at The Switch Drive Systems. His main responsibility is the electromagnetic design of permanent magnet wind generators. Minna Haavisto got her M.Sc. degree in materials science from Tampere University of Technology in 1997. Her career with permanent magnets started in 2005, when she started as a materials consultant in Magnet Technology Center at Prizztech Ltd. Since 2007 he has been carrying out a research work on thermal stability of sintered NdFeB magnets as a part of her Ph.D. degree.