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Today, the energy industry is increasingly focused on efficiency and technology upgrades. One of the key innovations is permanent magnet synchronous generators, which are becoming an essential part of new power systems - for example, those used in wind farms. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of West Bohemia (FEL UWB) is now introducing a revolutionary technology that significantly improves their operation and maintenance. Its deployment will improve the technical parameters of synchronous generators and create new possibilities for data collection and analysis, which is crucial for further development and innovation in this field. With this step, FEL UWB and its partners are opening the door to a more modern and efficient energy sector ready to face future challenges.

The innovation, already commercially available and in use in several installations across Europe, includes a special system with wireless energy transmission to power sensors located directly in the generator rotor. The sensors monitor essential parameters such as temperature and other variables, allowing detailed diagnostics and optimization of the generators.

"A big unknown in the design of electrical machines is the knowledge of the rotor temperature distribution during operation. Therefore, the electromagnetic design is usually oversized, and the resulting machine is larger than it needs to be. Thanks to the known rotor temperature distribution, it is possible to design a new generation of machines with better use of the electromagnetic circuit," explains Vladimír Kindl, one of the FEL team members who worked on the development.

The new technology takes advantage of the latest advances in wireless power transmission, which significantly improves the development, operation, and servicing of generators. FEL UWB thus responds to the growing demand for generators that enable online collection of operational data and remote diagnostics via a cloud-based solution in line with Industry 4.0 principles.

Thanks to this technology, the partner company TES Vsetín, which specializes in developing and producing electrical machinery, is expanding its product portfolio and increasing its competitiveness in the market. "The deployment of this technology will enable the company not only to improve the features of its products but also to create new business opportunities in the field of cloud applications, service, and online diagnostics," adds Pavel Turjanica, another member of the FEL UWB development team. 

Thanks to many years of research in wireless energy transfer in rotating systems, for which it has also obtained a patent, the FEL UWB research team has created a vital tool for modern industrial applications. The results of this research have been published in the prestigious IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, which confirms the high quality and importance of this contribution.