Design of locally manufactured small generators for low cost rural applications

Objective: To describe the power system and the procedure of the construction of an axial flux generator

Steps

1. Design of the pico – power system

2. Design of the generator

3. Construction of the generation

4. Costing

Low cost rural applications

Applications

• Agricultural applications in the developing world or in off-grid areas electrification for small community or small farm.

• Easy construction in a local lab by users or local .

Turbines • Wind turbines

• Hydro turbines

Design of an autonomous small power system

Connection to autonomous small-scale battery systems

Axial flux vs radial flux generators

Simple construction

Low cost

Light weight

Brushless-good heat dissipation

Easy airgap adjustment

Advantages of an axial flux permanent magnet generator

Design of an axial flux permanent magnet generator

Power rating

200 W 350 W 700 W 800W 1000 W 1200 W

Blade radius (for

wind turbine)

1200 mm 1800 mm 2400 mm 3000 mm 3600 mm 4200 mm

Rotor diameter

230mm 250mm 300 mm 350 mm 400 mm 450 mm

Rotor thickness

6 mm 6 mm 8 mm 10 mm 10 mm 10 mm

Number of poles

8 8 24 32 32 32

Number of coils

6 6 18 24 24 24

Stator construction

Stator construction

Rotor construction

Rotor construction

Machine assembly

Generator Cost

Nominal Power

400 W (iron-cored)

850 W (Rturb=1.2m)

3 kW (Rturb=2.25 m)

5 kW (Rturb=3m)

Total cost 139 € 309 € 410 € 961 €

Magnet cost 77 € 151 € 213 € 584 €

Copper cost 15 € 44 € 70 € 119 €

Total mass 8.80 kg 12.47 kg 35.48 kg 61.43 kg