Designing an Integrated Generator for a Wave Energy Converter

An increasing body of research is being conducted on the development of wave energy converters as a potential source of renewable energy. To directly convert the low-speed oscillation of wave energy converters into electrical energy, several bespoke electrical machines have been developed by researchers, often only demonstrated in a dry laboratory environment. To prove reliable operation at sea, a generic wave energy converter is developed in this paper which is ideally suited for demonstrating an integrated small scale direct drive generator in the ocean. This paper gives design details of an ‘IPS buoy' wave energy converter being developed for use with an integrated direct drive wave energy converter. Dimensions of a small-scale demonstrator are derived.