Vertical axis wind turbine with cambered airfoil blades

摘要

A wind turbine having blades that rotate in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis. A single output shaft is directly connected by one-way bearings to the driven shaft of a permanent magnet generator. This eliminates the need for a gearbox and also eliminates the need for inverters. Friction losses are further reduced by suspending the vertical shaft with magnetic bearings. Airfoils are positioned in a specific vertical design so that they cup the wind on a lower concave portion of the airfoil for self-starting capability. Stealth radar-absorbing mesh and faceted mounting structures reduce scrambling of radar returns.

主权项

1. A vertical axis wind turbine, comprising:
a top plate and a bottom plate in coaxial alignment along a center axis, the center axis being perpendicular to both the top and the bottom plates; a plurality of blades disposed between the top and the bottom plates in a symmetrical configuration about the center axis, each blade comprising at least one cambered airfoil, wherein a camber line at a leading edge of each airfoil is perpendicular to a normal to the center axis and the leading edge is closer to the center axis than the trailing edge; a shaft attached to the bottom plate, the shaft being in coaxial alignment with the center axis; and a generator having a stator and a rotor, the rotor being driven by the shaft, wherein the rotor and the shaft have the same angular velocity.