Switched reluctance motor drive system for controlling pitch angle of wind turbine blades

A system for controlling a pitch angle of a blade of a wind turbine, the system comprising:

• a switched reluctance motor configured to be positioned at a hub of the wind turbine and coupled to the blade, wherein the motor has:
• a stator having (i) multiple stator poles and (ii) coil windings around each of the multiple stator poles;
• and
• a rotor rotatably mounted with respect to the stator, the rotor having multiple rotor poles and a rotor shaft configured to be coupled to the blade to control the pitch angle of the blade;
• and
• an inverter configured to supply electrical power to the coil windings to control motion of the rotor shaft in response to receiving a pitch angle control signal from the wind turbine, wherein the inverter has:
• a heatsink assembly having multiple fans configured to increase cooling air flow for the inverter;
• and
• multiple switching devices that are directly mounted on the heatsink assembly for improved heat dissipation.