A direct driven permanent magnet (PM) synchronous generator has been designed and constructed and results from the first experimental tests are presented. The generator has been designed using the finite element method (FEM) and dynamic simulations have been performed to study the generator. The simulations are performed by using an electromagnetic model, which is described by a combined field and circuit equation model and is solved in a finite element environment. The stator winding of the generator consists of circular cables and the rotor has surface mounted, arched PMs. A complete experimental setup has been constructed consisting of a motor, a frequency converter, a gearbox and electrical loads. Oscilloscopes are used to measure the voltage and the current for each phase. Measurements have been performed for both full load and no load at rated speed. The harmonic content of the voltage is analyzed and compared to results from simulations. Furthermore, the generated electric power has been calculated from knowing the voltage and current and is compared to the simulated power. The agreement between experimental results and results from simulations based on finite element calculations is very high.. especially considering harmonics. Several sources of error are suggested that could cause the small differences between the simulated results and the measured data for the constructed generator. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.