Experimental verification of induced voltage self-excitation of a switched reluctance generator

A switched reluctance machine does not have its own self-excitation capability. However, permanent magnets could be placed in various positions on the core of the switched reluctance machine to provide its excitation requirements during starting. This paper is devoted to the experimental verification of this new self-excitation principle. The complete power electronic controller for driving a self-excited switched reluctance generator as well as several different generator configurations have been implemented. Design details, operating principles and experimental results are presented.