Wind electric plant with improved alternator field excitation

An improvement in a wind electric plant of the type including a wind driven propeller means or the like supported at the top of a tower and connected to drive an alternator supported on the tower to generate electrical energy, and means connected to be supplied by the alternator, and wherein a substantially constant current is supplied to the field winding of the alternator via an electrical control circuit means at substantially all speeds of operation of the wind electric plant within a predetermined range of speeds to excite the field of the alternator and thus obtain full excitation of the alternator field at substantially all speeds of operation of the wind electric plant within said range, the improvement comprising:

• exciter means connected with said alternator, said exciter means including a permanent magnet exciter field wherein the substantially constant current supplied to the field winding of said alternator is supplied via said exciter means so that the alternator field can be fully energized at slow speed and have such field saturation condition maintained over the entire speed range of said alternator, thereby permitting operation of the wind electric plant without the said electrical control circuit means and its source of supply voltage.