This paper has presented a form of axial-flux permanent magnet synchronous generator (AFPMSG) that is suitable for a direct-coupled wind turbine system. The application of this machine to horizontal-axis and vertical-axis wind turbine generator systems is discussed. An analysis of the magnetic flux density distribution in the AFPMSG has been made with the aid of a commercial, finite element software. The computed results show that the output line voltage is practically sinusoidal forthe proposed machine configuration. Experiments performed on a prototype generator have confirmed the feasibility of the AFPMSG design and the validity of the equivalent circuit model