Engineers have created brilliant technical solutions to make our lives easier. Fridges, freezers and dishwashers, … all make the lives of average metropolitans more comfortable. But what lies in rural areas far away from busy city life?
I can tell you: wind turbines and summer cottages.
And guess what? They are quite similar. Perhaps not in numbers, but from a technology point of view. Some are equipped with features only considered necessary for survival; others have ultra-modern technical solutions that even enable remote access to monitoring equipment by mobile phone. Both in cottages and turbines, features requested in the 90s may not live up to our needs today.
Finns have some half a million summer cottages where we feel quite comfortable. One reason is that the equipment in cottages is starting to be at the level of a real home: HD TV sets, surround sound stereos, air conditioning, … you name it. Modern technology also makes summer cottages more comfortable for year-round living. Still some people continue to believe in the traditional approach with wood heating, oil burning lamps and enjoying crossword puzzles, but I see this group getting smaller and smaller.
What has this got to do with wind turbines?
By having the right solutions for our needs in our cottage, we gain more energy from a relaxing visit there. Similarly, by having The Switch Drive™ that combines a permanent magnet generator (PMG) with a full-power converter (FPC) in a wind turbine, we gain more energy from the wind.
Double-fed systems from times of oil-burning lamps with their inherent restrictions are not necessarily the best any longer, but an FPC with a PMG makes us feel right at home.
Jussi Paakkunainen
Product Manager, Full-power converters
This story is featured in Switching on Frequently 02/2013.
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