Motors and generators can be compound-wound - see the web ref. The word "panel" is really a guess. It might be a panel in the boîte à bornes (terminal housing?) where the ends of the separate windings are interconnected to give the compound configuration.

I'm just posting here in order to have more space for comments.

Finn, as I said above, in both this and your other question, it is the word 'plate' that specifically worries me.

A quick Google revealed a few hits for 'excitation plate' but all of them as far as I can see not related to your context (mainly relating to electronic/radio field); the same goes for the even fewer hits for 'compounding plate' [seem to be mainly biological...]

I tried for 'exciter plate', and came up with a few hits relevant to alternators; as I had originally suspected, the word 'plate' IS used when referring to the diode-mounting plate (actually a hefty chunk of e.g. aluminium heatsinking) used particularly in 'rotating-diode'-type alternators.
The link below gives one example:

Lamborghini Electrical Equipment...
spark plug connector, 01.68, 0 356 100 014,
alternator, 01.68, 0 120 400 644,
brush holder plate, 1 124 336 066,
... exciter diode plate, 1 121 099 007 ...

www.geocities.com/lamboguy/Electric.html

...though this is clearly car electrics and not industrial alternators!

So I can go along with 'exciter (diode) plate', and as for 'compounding', I'm not convinced, but can't think of a related term on which to even start Googling; in a huge alternator translation job I did last year, the term never once came up, nor anything even faintly similar, so I'm afraid I've drawn a blank there for the moment.



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Note added at 4 hrs 40 mins (2005-02-18 22:40:15 GMT)
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I was still very puzzled by \'compoundage\' --- the vast majority of Google hits seem to relate to making plastics compounds, so nothing ostensibly to do with alternators.

However, I did come across one tiny little tucked away reference to do with steam engines, and this set me thinking; my Dad (an ex-steam engineer) was always going on about \'compound engines\', and from what I can remember, this was a way of making more efficient use of steam by a \'triple-expansion\' (etc.) process --- in other words, cascading cylinders in such a way as to use the same steam more than once.

This made me think that perhaps your document is talking about some way of linking alternators together so as to produce higher current and/or voltage --- I know there are lots of complicated things that have to be taken into account for this to be done, and it makes some sense that this might take place in some kind of \'terminal box\'.

Still leaves me wondering about \'plate\' though --- in electrical/electronic terms, I would almost suspect some kind of \'chassis\' --- or if all else fails, maybe play safe and translate it as \'unit\'!

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Note added at 13 hrs 9 mins (2005-02-19 07:09:34 GMT)
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In the light of your added note, Finn, I would surmise that in this case the \'compoundage\' does not relate to the \'compounding\' of several alternators, but rather, to the way the various windings within one alternator are wired together to produce the required voltage / current and phase configuration options --- oddly enough, a similar thing came up quite recently in exactly the same context, but with quite a different term.

Best of luck!

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Note added at 5 days (2005-02-24 08:34:31 GMT) Post-grading
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So, now we know it is \'compound excitation\', a quick Google reveals quite a few relevant hits; no mention that I\'ve found so far of the board/plate/panel that is used to achieve this; however, as far as I\'m concerned, anything containing electronics in various forms is more likely to be a \'board\' than anything else, though of course the other possibilities can\'t ever be entirely ruled out! \'Unit\' would be the safest bet to avoid being wrong.

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Note added at 5 days (2005-02-24 13:05:25 GMT) Post-grading
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Yes, Finn, as a technician myself, I understand exactly what is being conveyed here. The idea is that it will probably be some kind of metal sheet, sometimes with formed edges, or at least, sufficiently thick to be rigid, onto which will be mounted disparate electronic components --- so it is not a \'board\' in the sense of a \'printed circuit board\'; it is really probably more properly referred to as a \'sub-chassis\', for example --- a kind of pre-fabricated \'naked\' sub-assembly that is then mounted and wired within the overall \'control cabinet\' or \'terminal box\'.

Strictly speaking, one might argue that it is not a \'unit\' inasmuch as it probably is not enclosed within a single housing (even though a FUNCTIONAL unit may not necessarily be...). \'Panel\' to me always suggests the idea of a \'front panel\' onto which would be mounted switches, indicators etc., whereas a \'plaque\' is usually buried inside something. And for me, \'plate\' places rather too much emphasis on the CONSTRUCTION, rather than the function --- more to do with the way things are mounted, like for example, the \'diode plate\' I mentioned before (here, the expression is exactly right --- a thick plate of metal [e.g. aluminium] that not only supports, and provides the electrical contact to, the diodes, but which may also act as a heatsink for them)

So you see that to me as a technician, I understand what this thing is likely to be, the difficulty is finding a succinct expression to sum all that up in English!