Patent ID: 7962246

Claim:
A method for operating a wind turbine during a loss of communication, the wind turbine including at least one wind turbine blade, a wind turbine controller, and a pitch controller coupled to the at least one wind turbine blade and to the wind turbine controller, said method comprising: establishing communication between the pitch controller and the wind turbine controller; and, detecting a loss of communication between the pitch controller and the wind turbine controller, wherein after a loss of communication is detected, said method further comprises: pitching the at least one wind turbine blade to a first position using the pitch controller; independently calculating an expected pitch position of the at least one wind turbine blade by the wind turbine controller during the loss of communication such that the expected pitch position is substantially equal to an actual pitch position of the at least one wind turbine blade during the loss of communication; maintaining the at least one wind turbine blade at the first position until a first predetermined amount of time has elapsed; independently pitching the at least one wind turbine blade to a second position; waiting for a second predetermined amount of time to elapse; and, maintaining the at least one wind turbine blade in the second position until a rotation of the at least one wind turbine blade stops.