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This paper describes the characteristics of the switched reluctance motor (SRM) used as a generator. In this mode of operation the SRM is unique in that it does not employ permanent magnets or a field winding on its rotor. Thus the SRM generator does not have the inherent problem of generating into a shorted winding like the permanent magnet machine (you cannot turn off the excitation), and the rotor structure is inherently simpler and more reliable than the wound field machine. Because the SRM generator does not use permanent magnets or a field winding, the nature of its excitation during generating is of particular interest. In fact, the SRM's lack of direct field excitation makes the SRM generator unstable when operating open loop in the square-wave mode and connected in the conventional manner. In this case, the generator's output voltage increases exponentially for loads less than a critical value and goes to zero for loads greater than this same critical value.