Apparatus is provided for wind-energy electrical generation. The apparatus presented comprises a shell enclosing a turbine with a vertical axis, the shell having a wind intake and wind egress, and may comprise blades or vanes to direct wind flow inside the shell to push the turbine. The turbine comprises an electrical generator. The turbine axis may be able to tilt. The apparatus may be used for wind-energy electrical generation in sites that are not conducive to convention wind-energy electrical generation. The present disclosure solves problems with the currently available apparatuses for wind-energy electrical generation using a building or other obstacle to its advantage. It also provides a means of combining solar and wind renewal energy harvesting into a single device.

Exemplary embodiments generally relate to knowledge representation, and in particular, multi-dimensional knowledge representation in a configurable document that includes a collection of subparts that have a number of dimensions. Further, a number of versions of each configurable document may be defined, with each version including a different subset of subparts from the collection of subparts.

A rotor blade for a rotor, in particular of a wind power installation, having a rotor-blade length constituted between a root region and a rotor-blade tip, a rotor-blade depth constituted between a leading edge and a blunt trailing edge, a rotor-blade thickness constituted between a pressure side and a suction side, a suction-side trailing-edge region extending on the suction side and/or a pressure-side trailing-edge region extending on the pressure side, the suction-side trailing-edge region and/or the pressure-side trailing-edge region extending from the blunt trailing edge in the direction of the leading edge with an extent of less than 30%, in particular less than 20%, of the chord, and the suction-side trailing-edge region and/or the pressure-side trailing-edge region having at least one eddy generator.

An energy conversion system for converting wind energy into electrical energy includes at least one rotor having a substantially horizontal rotational axis and a plurality of rotor blades extending radially with respect to the rotational axis; a rotor mantle which fully surrounds the rotor; a plurality of wind funnels, including a first wind funnel arranged upstream of the rotor mantle and tapering towards the rotor mantle, and a second wind funnel arranged downstream of the rotor mantle and widening in a direction leading away from the rotor mantle; and a fixed frame which supports the rotor mantle and/or the plurality of wind funnels, wherein at least one adjustment device is provided, which is arranged and configured to orient the energy conversion system in a position corresponding to a prevailing wind direction.

The disclosure includes a method of diagnosing a grounding system of a structure that includes a charge collecting structure conductively connected to the ground via a grounding path, where diagnosing involves an act of monitoring output of a voltage and/or a current and/or an electrostatic detector connected to the grounding path.

A horizontal axis wind turbine comprises a turbine unit, a turbine unit supporting frame, a generator configured for generating electrical energy, and a yaw bearing mechanism. The turbine unit is supported on one or more bearings by the turbine unit supporting frame. The turbine unit is rotatable about a horizontal rotation axis to drive the generator in a direction of rotation.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for acquiring surface profile information (e.g., depths at multiple points) from limited-access structures and objects using an autonomous or remotely operated flying platform (such as an unmanned aerial vehicle). The systems proposed herein use a profilometer to measure the profile of an area on a surface where visual inspection has indicated that the surface has a potential anomaly. After the system has gathered data representing the surface profile in the area containing the potential anomaly, a determination may be made whether the collected image data indicates that the structure or object should be repaired or may be used as is.

A method of determining perturbation of a grating formed in an optical fiber, comprises: modulating and transmitting a light beam through the optical fiber, measuring at least one phase shift in a modulation of light reflected off the grating, and determining the perturbation of the grating based on the phase shift(s).

A method for performing uptower maintenance of a wind turbine in order to replace the main bearing on the turbine shaft is disclosed. Embodiments of this method to perform maintenance may include installing a rotor lock to resist rotation of the main shaft during maintenance, providing a lifting device in order to elevate the main shaft, removing the main bearing from its main bearing housing, and installing a replacement split main bearing. A crane may also be installed uptower to assist in the maintenance.

A damper for damping vibrations of a structure comprises: a first damping unit, comprising a first damping body having a first mass (m.sub.1), a first spring element having a first spring constant (k.sub.1) and a first damping element having a first damping constant (c.sub.1), wherein said first damping body is configured to be attached to said structure via said first spring element and said first damping element; and a second damping unit, comprising a second damping body having a second mass (m.sub.2), a second spring element having a second spring constant (k.sub.2) and a second damping element having a second damping constant (c.sub.2), wherein said second damping body is configured to be attached to said first damping body via said second spring element and said second damping element.