Multiobjective Design Optimization of a Multi-Phase Outer-Rotor Permanent Magnet Wind Generator

Nowadays, the Permanent Magnet (PM) generator has become an instrumental tool for wind power generation due to its high performance. In this study, an optimal design is established to provide a cost-effective multiphase outer-rotor PM wind generator (OR-PMWG). The cost of the generation system (generator and power converter) as well as the annual energy output must be optimized to ensure cost-effective PM wind generation. In fact, the main novelty of this paper lies in the presentation of an accurate model of OR-PMWG and the investigation of the design variables affecting annual energy output and the generation system cost (GSC). In this respect, a multi-objective framework is presented to make satisfactory agreement among all objectives. At first, the main optimal design objectives namely generation system cost and annual energy output are optimized separately and then, a multi-objective optimization is established, in which all the objectives are considered simultaneously. In order to tackle these optimization problems, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is adopted herein to determine the design variables. It is also shown that simultaneous optimization with 71.39 (MWh) AEO and 2651.51 (US$) GSC leads to a more optimal design for a PM wind generation system. In addition, the effectiveness of the presented optimal design is demonstrated by making a comparison between a prototype outer-rotor PM wind generator and the theoretical counterpart. Finally, a finite element analysis (FEA) is carried out for the validation of the outcomes obtained from the proposed optimal design.