Types of Wind Turbines: The Quick and Easy Intro

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November 15, 2020

Wind turbines harvest the renewable source of wind’s energy, but there are various types
of wind turbines some of which could be used for small scale domestic applications and
some used in wind power plants. Since going green is becoming more import by day and
human civilization is highly reliant on energy, wind energy and the equipment by which it
is harvested are now important more than ever. Therefore, it is quite beneficial to know
about how various types of wind turbines look like and where they could be used.

On the Linquip platform, you’ll find all the information about wind turbines you need. If you
have any questions related to the wind turbine, we are here to help. To start, visit Linquip
and explore the article “What Is a Wind Turbine?” for a basic understanding of these
renewable energy devices.

Are you in need of a wind turbine? For free, you can view a wide selection of Wind
Turbine Products here at Linquip. What types of wind turbine equipment are you looking
to buy? Linquip provides no-cost access to all available Wind Turbine Devices for Sale.
Linquip also provides you the option to send inquiries to all Wind Turbine Suppliers and
Companies and receive quotations for free if you are trying to find wind turbine prices.

As nice as having access to a platform making it easy to find the right wind turbine would
be, which is here, it would also be interesting to have access to a short guide that would
explain how different various wind turbines are, which is what this post is all about. So,
stay for more on the different types of wind turbines.

Wind Energy: What It Is and What Are Its Types

Various factors act to put the atmosphere into motion, a phenomenon we call wind. Now,
this naturally occurring motion or kinetic energy is out there, and it only seems reasonable
to find ways to harvest it. Easy wind kinetic energy is nothing new for us humans. We
have already used it to turn our windmills since almost a thousand years ago. As another
example, we have been using it in windjammers for so long. But are there any other ways
to use wind energy in a more tangible application?

The answer is of course a big YES! The essential idea is that the kinetic energy of wind
can be used to rotate some equipment, as it is the case with windmills, but this time to
generate electricity, as it is the case for gas turbines where the hot gas turns the turbine
and generates power. Therefore, what we generally mean these days by wind energy is
wind power, which is generating electrical energy from wind kinetic energy using
equipment called wind turbines.

We may classify wind based on where its energy is harvested into land wind and offshore
wind. Land wind itself can be further classified into two types of “small wind” or
“distributed wind”, and utility-scale” wind:

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 Small wind refers to using wind energy in small scale for homes, farms, and
businesses, for which small wind turbines with powers up to 100 KW are used to
provide the required power. In this setup, the win turbines are not connected to the
grid, and their generated power is directly consumed by the end user.
Utility-scale wind refers to using wind energy in large scale power generation
applications. The wind turbine used for this wind have sizes within the range of as
low as 100 KW to as high as several megawatts. Despite small wind turbines, the
generated power of utility-scale wind turbines is injected into the power grid to be
distributed and used by the end users.
Offshore wind, as the name suggests, is using wind energy at offshore areas by
installation of large wind turbines in them. The offshore-based wind turbines are
larger than land-based wind turbines, and therefore, can usually generate more
power than their land-based counterparts.

Wind turbines that realize the conversion of wind energy to electrical energy can also be
categorized into different types. Wind turbines are in the most general sense categorized
into the two types of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) and Vertical Axis Wind
Turbine (VAWT). Despite there are wind turbines that would belong to neither of these two
types, due to their very limited implementation in real applications, we may naturally stick
with the two types of HAWT and VAWT as the main types of wind turbines used in action.

Read More on Linquip

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Wind Energy Advantages and Disadvantages Fully Explained

Types of Wind Turbines: HAWT

One of the important types of wind turbines is the HAWT, which is the most widely used
wind turbine out there. These types of wind turbines are probably what you would think of
when you hear “wind turbine.” The design of these turbines follows pretty much the same
idea already implemented in windmills; rotor blades that are connected to a shaft and
rotate it as the wind strikes them, only this time the shaft is connected to a generator that
produces the promised electrical energy. They look something like a large aircraft
propeller mounted on top of a mast or tower.

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 Image from NREL

Horizontal axis wind turbines are one of the types of wind turbines that require being
aligned with the wind direction. Therefore, they require a wind sensor that detects the
direction of wind and some yawing mechanism that turns the device in order to be
properly aligned against the wind. The reason for necessity of facing the wind is both a
more effective distribution of force on the rotors, and prevention of structural damage to
the turbine due to improper loading on the turbine structure.

Speaking of structural considerations, the structure of horizontal axis wind turbines needs
to be strong enough to support the weight of the rotor blades, gearbox, generator, and
other components of the turbine. Additionally, the base of the mast shall be able to
withstand strong winds that are blown where the turbine is installed.

From different types of wind turbines, HAWTs are the most commonly used type due to
their efficiency and higher power generation capability for the same footprint. Therefore,
most wind farms, that are power plants with a number of wind turbines generating power,
use these types of wind turbines.

Horizontal axis wind turbines basically include two types namely up-wind turbines and
down-wind turbines. Let us discuss each further in the following.

Read More on Linquip

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Up-wind Turbines

These types of wind turbines are the ones most commonly used. Up-wind HAWTs face
the wind, which means the wind reaches the rotors before the mast. Therefore, rotors do
not suffer from the wind shade behind the tower, which means a more efficient operation

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as well as less susceptibility to wear and tear of the rotors. Nonetheless, the necessity for
the yawing mechanism adds to the weight of the structure.

Another point about up-wind types of wind turbines is that their rotors should not be
flexible, so that they would not bend and collide with the mast when the speed of wind is
high. To further avoid such incidences, the rotor is placed at some distance from the
tower. This adds to the manufacturing difficulties of these types of wind turbines, and the
rather inflexibility of the rotor blades equals requiring heavier material for blade
construction.

Down-wind Turbines
Down-wind horizontal axis wind turbines are the less commonly seen types of wind
turbines. Their design looks pretty much the same as up-wind HAWTs except for the
location of rotor, which is downstream of the tower; the wind strikes the mast before it
reaches the blades. This configuration allows for more flexibility of the rotor blades, and
therefore, lighter material can be used. Hence, this design serves two purposes of lighter
structural weight and better structural dynamics of the tower by taking some of the load
off the tower to the blades during their bending.

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 Image from UNLV

Down-wind horizontal axis types of wind turbines theoretically do not require any yawing
mechanism as long as the rotors and the casing are designed in a way the casing would
passively follow the wind direction. The passive yawing of these wind turbines would not
be an advantage for large wind turbines that have earthing cables attached to the casing.

Since the rotor of these types of wind turbines are located behind downstream of the
mast, they suffer from the wind shade. Wind shade not only induces fluctuations in the
amount of power generated, but also results in more fatigue of down-wind types of wind
turbines compared to their up-wind counterparts.

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Types of Wind Turbines: VAWT

Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) are one of the types of wind turbines for which rotors
rotate a shaft that is installed vertically. Such way of design allows for less sensitivity
regarding wind direction, making them the perfect choice for places where the wind
direction frequently changes. No matter what direction the wind blows, the blades would
still move and rotate the shaft to produce power.

The generator of these types of wind turbines is located near the ground. This is because
taking it to a height would not be so plausible given the design of rotors and their height.
This configuration makes the maintenance of the vertical axis wind turbines easier

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compared to horizontal axis wind turbines, which has all the components installed at
some height. However, vertical axis wind turbines have less efficiencies than HAWTs due
to significant amount of air drag on the rotors for some designs, as well as less power
output due to the fact that wind speed and its flow at a distance from the ground is higher
and smoother than ground level.

Savonius Turbines

The force that makes Savonius turbines turn is drag, which makes them of drag-type
VAWTs. The idea of their design is pretty much similar to cup anemometers. In cup
anemometers, such as the one below, there is always a cup facing the wind experiencing
the most drag exerted on its surface, while other cups have their other round-shaped and
hence drag-lowering surfaces facing the wind.

What happens in Savonius types of wind turbines

follows the same logic. As can be seen in the figure
below, there is always a surface with the most drag
while others experience less drag force exerted on
them.

The important point about this design is that it would

rotate no matter what direction the wind blows.
These types of wind turbines are also very good at
working with low-speed winds, are easy to
manufacture and maintain, and are work well in
turbulent wind. Despite these advantages, this
design is highly inefficient. It is because the
favorable and adverse drag forces are not so
different from each other, and therefore, the speed
of rotation would not be so high. Image from RITM Industry

These types of wind turbines can self-start

due the high torque generated, but their low
RPM means there cannot be a lot of
electrical energy produced at the generator.
Therefore, they cannot be used for large
scale power generation, and could only be
good for small scale applications where
other types of wind turbines could not work
so well.

There are these twisted Savonius turbine

designs that have long helical scoops that Image from Net Zero Guide

generate torque smoothly that could be

used on rooftops.

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 Image from Oy Windside Production Ltd

Darrieus Turbines

Darrieus wind turbines in contrary to the Savonius wind turbines are of the lift-type
VAWTs, in which the idea of lift production of airfoils has been implemented. These types
of wind turbines are the most widely used type of vertical axis wind turbines for power
generation with curved blades, C-shaped, that go from the top of tower to the bottom
where it is connected to the generator shaft. They have good efficiency because they
rotate at higher speeds that could generate more power.

Image from Dornier

This higher RPM comes with lower torque to a level that necessities an external source of
starting mechanism for these types of wind turbines, such as another Savonius turbine
that would bring the speed of rotation to a level where the Darrieus blades could “take the

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wheel”. They also suffer from torque ripple, which is a periodic increase and decrease of
the generated torque, and therefore periodic stress on the tower structure. Three bladed
Darrieus wind turbines do not suffer from this torque ripple issue.

Read More on Linquip

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Giromill Turbines

Giromill wind turbines are inspired by Darrieus turbines. These types of wind turbines,
therefore, are of the lift-type VAWTs with straight vertical blades instead of curved ones.
Giromill turbines are not self-starting same as Darrieus wind turbines, and might not have
a steady speed of rotation. Therefore, they are not as efficient as the Darrieus turbines
are. Nonetheless, they are cheaper, easier to manufacture, and can work well in turbulent
winds.

Image from ScienceDirect

Cycloturbines
Cycloturbines are very much similar to Giromill wind turbines, and are actually a variant of
Giromill wind turbines that are in a way a hybrid-type of vertical axis wind turbines. The
reason is that for their airfoil blades are of the variable-pitch type. When the wind is not
fast enough, which is mostly the case during the start up of the turbine, the blades are
pitched against the wind in a manner similar to the idea of Savonius wind turbines to
produce the most drag and torque to make a self-starting wind turbine.

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 Basics of a cycloturbine working principle (Reference: nl.wikipedia.org)

When the turbine reaches a specific RPM, the blades change their pitch in order to
produce more lift rather than drag to take the RPM to even higher levels, similar to how it
is for Darrieus wind turbines. As interesting as it sounds to have such an efficient and
flexible VAWT, it is clear that their design and manufacturing is more complicated than the
other designs making them expensive, and will have more components, and therefore,
are heavier with more maintenance requirement.

Read More on Linquip

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Other Designs
The quest for more efficient and innovative wind turbine design does not end here. There
are many other designs out there such as ducted rotors, shrouded wind turbines, co-axial
multi-rotor turbines, counter rotating turbines, etc. for HAWTs. For VAWTs there are
enclosed blades, H-rotor, O-wind turbines, etc.

Apart from these newer designs of the same HAWT and VAWT concepts, there are
bladeless wind turbines such as vaneless ion wind generators, boundary layer turbines,
etc.

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 H-rotor design of a wind
turbine (Reference: diva-
portal.org)

Vaneless ion wind generator (Reference: commons.wikimedia.org)

Some other concepts are also gaining momentum, such as SheerWind’s INVELOX that
first collects air from different directions, funnels it to a section that reaches a Venturi, in
which a turbine with a higher frequency than conventional HAWTs is placed.

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 SheerWind’s INVELOX Wind Turbine (Reference: inhabitat.com)

What Are the Environmental Effects of Wind Turbines?

Despite its many benefits, wind energy is a potential threat to the environment, including
the reduction, fragmentation, and degradation of wildlife, fish, and plant habitats. The
spinning blades of turbines can also be dangerous to flying creatures like birds and bats.

Does It Make Sense to Invest in a Home Wind Turbine?

Residential wind turbines can be a profitable and practical power source for homeowners
in the right circumstances. A wind turbine may not provide all the electricity you need, but
it could lower your electricity bills significantly. Make sure you choose the suitable turbine
for your location.

There are simply a lot of interesting wind turbines out there that is way out of the scope of
this post, but you could research them on your own. This post has tried to be a good start
with some useful keywords to help you continue the journey by yourself. You can also
watch here for some introductory videos about wind turbines. Good luck!

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