Quote:
Originally Posted by t vago
Whatever happened to ConnClark's alternator rectifier? Wasn't he working on something that would have used PWM to increase alternator efficiency by 5 or 10% or something.
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ConnClark linked the paper that uses PWM with a higher voltage to increase alternator efficiency, but he was working on just replacing the diodes with active rectifiers, I think.
Using active rectifiers alone should be worth perhaps 10% more power out for fixed mechanical power to the shaft, around 6-7% for the reduced voltage drop, and a bit more from lower field current and iron losses.
The PWM idea is very cool, but probably hard to do in practice since you have to tweak the voltage regulator AND smooth the output.