Wind Permanent Magnet Generators: Battery Charging Application

The market for small wind turbines is providing added electrification needed in remote areas. Many parts of the world are still running on electricity from batteries rather than electrical grids laid by national power corporations.  Telecom companies who have to provide uninterrupted signals in remote areas rely on batteries and generators to get electricity. Another area that uses battery back up is Marine operations.  Off grid wind turbines are proving to be more and more valuble in these situations.

Wind speed is not always constant and it is usually highest during the night hours when people are not using much electricity. Storage of this night-time electricity can charge the battery and become an important method to utilize this electricity that could be lost.

Installing a small wind permanentmagnet generator at remote sites can provide battery charging at a much lower cost than diesel generation or charging stations. Since there are no recurring costs with wind energy, the payback period of the initial setup cost is minimal. 

 In marine environments where the sources of electricity are scarce, batteries are the only viable option and due to high wind speed at sea, these wind turbine battery charging options become a very profitable and convenient source. The overall cost of electricity is reduced. Also with battery usage the overall capacity of the site is doubled. The wind turbine produces the electricity and the battery stores the the extra electricity.

The initial setup is simple. The connection diagram is shown below.

Since the generator is a permanent magnet one, the efficiency obtained in converting mechanical energy to electrical energy is maximum. It is more than 90%, which means more than 90% of the applied mechanical force by the wind is converted into electricity. Compared to 70% provided by traditional generators the amount of wastage is minimal. With such high efficiencies in permanent magnetgenerators, the fuel savings are more, the batteries last longer and overall cost of using electricity is decreased.