Getting more from the wind: Recent advancements and challenges in generators development for wind turbines

The deployments of on-shore and off-shore wind turbines have been found to be one of the most feasible methods to promote renewable energy generation in today's modern era. Advancements and improvements in generators have very fundamental impacts not only on wind energy conversion alone, but on all turbine-based energy conversion systems as well. This review paper vividly captures recent advancements in wind turbine generators and related enabling technologies, together with the tangible benefits and impacts across the fields in renewable energy sector that come along. Technological advantages and drawbacks of various types of generator technologies are presented in detail. Latest research articles and state-of-the-art techniques are categorized and reviewed based on the mechanisms presented. A comprehensive study is carried out to reveal the improvement claims, outcomes, discoveries, and trade-offs of the techniques found in the literature, and a comprehensive conclusion is drawn at the end of the article. This paper aims to shed new lights for policy makers, researchers, and other stake holders on various recent advancements in wind turbine generator related techniques, technologies, and the potential future options in the design of wind turbine generators.