The nacelle of a horizontal axis wind turbine is fixedly mounted on a tower, and the tower is mounted off-center with respect to a ring around which it is rotatable. The tower is a tripod. Two legs of the tripod are of fixed length and lie in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the turbine blades. The third leg of the tripod is of adjustable length and is aligned with the axis of rotation of the turbine blades. The third leg thus may be controlled to adjust for pitching of the base and other purposes. Multiple turbines, spaced apart laterally, may be mounted on a platform in a fixed orientation, with the platform rotatably mounted off-center relative to a base.

The invention relates to a method for monitoring yawing fault events of a yaw system of a wind turbine. The yaw system comprises one or more actuators for driving the yaw system and a holding system to resist yaw rotation. The yaw system is arranged to provide yaw rotation in response to a yaw control signal. According to the method, the monitored yaw angle is compared with the yaw control signal, and based on the comparison, a correlation between a monitored change in the yaw angle and the yaw control signal is determined. A yawing fault event is determined dependent on the determined correlation.

A method and associated system are provided for determining a yaw heading (θ.sub.heading) of a wind turbine, the wind turbine having a tower and a nacelle that includes a machine head and rotor at a top thereof. The method includes configuring a single rover receiver of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) at a fixed position relative to the nacelle. A GNSS geographic location of a tower top pivot point (TPP) of the wind turbine is determined, as well as an angular offset of the rover receiver (β.sub.rover) relative to a centerline axis of the nacelle. Based on the GNSS geo-location of the TPP and a GNSS geo-location of the rover receiver, an angular vector () relative to North of a line between the TPP and the rover receiver is determined. The yaw heading (θ.sub.heading) is computed from a difference between the angle () and the angular offset (β.sub.rover) of the rover receiver.

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.

A device and a method of controlling an operation of a wind turbine is provided. The wind turbine includes a rotor having a plurality of rotor blades, the rotor being mounted to a nacelle to rotate about a rotation axis and the nacelle being mounted to a tower to rotate about a yaw axis so that the rotation axis is also rotatable about the yaw axis. The method includes the following steps: determining a wind direction, acquiring a yaw angle of the nacelle and the rotation axis, determining an angular misalignment between the wind direction and the yaw angle of the rotation axis, which angular misalignment is measured in a plane which is perpendicular to the yaw axis, and performing a stall operation in case the angular misalignment exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

A yaw control device includes a bottom horizontal plate, a top horizontal plate, a first vertical plate, and a second vertical plate. An aperture is positioned between first and second edges of the bottom horizontal plate, and is closer to a third edge of the bottom horizontal plate than to a fourth edge of that plate. A bottom edge of the first vertical plate is attached to a first edge of the bottom horizontal plate. An upper edge of the first vertical plate is attached to a first edge of the top horizontal plate. A bottom edge of the second vertical plate is attached to a second edge of the bottom horizontal plate. An upper edge of the second vertical plate is attached to a second edge of the top horizontal plate. The third edges of the horizontal plates are adapted to rotate about a shaft inserted through the aperture.

The system and method of the present disclosure is configured to monitor changes associated with an air gap by: (1) receiving one or more sensor signals from one or more sensors that are indicative of changes associated with the air gap; and (2) comparing the changes associated with the air gap to certain thresholds to determine if the air gap is in need of attention. The system includes at least one proximity sensor arranged adjacent to the air gap, to monitor the air gap, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive the sensor signal(s) indicative of the changes associated with the air gap. The controller also is configured to compare the changes associated with the air gap to one or more air gap thresholds, and to implement a control action based on this comparison.

A method for controlling pitching of at least one rotor blade of a wind turbine includes receiving, via one or more position localization sensors, position data relating to the at least one rotor blade of the wind turbine. Further, the method includes determining, via a controller, a blade deflection signal of the at least one rotor blade based on the position data. Moreover, the method includes determining, via a computer-implemented model stored in the controller, a pitch command for the at least one rotor blade as a function of the blade deflection signal and an azimuth angle of the at least one rotor blade.

Disclosed is a method of condition monitoring a WTG (Wind Turbine Generator) comprising acts of collecting and storage of at least the following data sets together with their time stamps. Collection of generator power production measurements. Collection of mechanical status measurements. Collection of generator torque measurements. Collection of nacelle direction measurements. Collection of meteorological conditions measurements. The method compromises a further act of synchronizing the data sets. The invention also relates to a system for condition monitoring a WTG. The invention further relates to a system for visually inspecting a WTG.

Disclosed is a method of condition monitoring a WTG (Wind Turbine Generator) comprising acts of collecting and storage of at least the following data sets together with their time stamps. Collection of generator power production measurements. Collection of mechanical status measurements. Collection of generator torque measurements. Collection of nacelle direction measurements. Collection of meteorological conditions measurements. The method compromises a further act of synchronizing the data sets. The invention also relates to a system for condition monitoring a WTG. The invention further relates to a system for visually inspecting a WTG.