A mechanism to control the orientation of vertical axis wind turbine airfoils

This paper proposes a new mechanism to control the orientation of airfoil panels of a specific drag-type vertical-axis wind turbine. In this type of turbine, panel-type airfoils are exposed to catch the wind during the downwind sector of their travel and must be rotated for minimal resistance during their upwind travel. A mechanism is presented in this paper to control the orientation of the airfoil panels to achieve the desired sequence of changes of the orientations. Alternatives for the configuration of the panels are also discussed; although the mechanism works with single or sectioned airfoils, analysis is provided which indicates that sectioned airfoils have advantages for this type of turbine.