Novel Five-Phase Permanent Magnet Generator Systems for Wind Turbine Applications

Abstract

This paper discusses the benefits of five-phase technology for

applications including wind turbine generators. The

performances of three-phase and five-phase permanent magnet

generator (PMG) systems that use diode rectifier circuits are

discussed. Investigations proved that the five-phase topology

harnesses some specific and important benefits that are not

provided by three-phase systems. The benefits include

improved fault tolerance and reliability, and reduced voltage

and torque ripple and size of DC link capacitor. These are

general improvements that are sought after in many applications

including renewable energy applications. The paper also

discusses the design of a novel five-phase wind turbine

generator which was optimised to make use of the key

competitive advantages of our five-phase technology in

renewable energy sector. Finite element (FE) and Matlab /

Simulink are used in the investigations. Test results are also

presented in this paper and used to validate simulations where

possible.