Small wind power generation using automotive alternator

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of using claw pole automotive alternator as a generator for small wind turbine and to compare its energy yield and generated electricity cost with commercially available systems. The comparison is based on the energy yield per swept area and cost per energy produced in a low wind speed climate. Concepts such as the selection of suitable turbine parameters and gear ratio were used to achieve good matching of the turbine characteristics with measured alternator performance in order to improve the energy yield from the alternator in battery charging application. The energy yield from the alternator integrated to a 3.9 m diameter turbine is comparable with many commercially available turbines. The generated electricity cost of a commercially available turbine can be reduced by more than a factor of 2 by replacing its generator with our proposed alternator. The alternator-based turbine system is therefore a low cost solution aimed at making wind energy available to areas where the current cost of wind technology makes it prohibitive.