TOLERANCE ANALYSIS OF A LINEAR WAVE POWER GENERATOR

The world's ever increasing demand for useful energy carriers have put a focus on the renewable energy conversion technologies. Numerous research groups have tried to convert the energy from the ocean waves and a series of concepts and techniques have over the years been developed. A research group at Uppsala University has designed a wave energy conversion system based on a linear permanent magnet generator, driven by a point absorbing buoy. This paper presents sensitivity analysis of the mechanical and magnetic design of the linear generator, performed to increases the knowledge of the sustainability and sensitivity of the machine. The present results show a non-negligible impact on both the mechanical design and the wave energy converter's energy conversion.