Patent ID: 8388315

Claim:
A method of operating a wind turbine having at least one rotor blade and an active flow control (AFC) system, the at least one rotor blade having at least one aperture defined through a surface thereof and the AFC system configured to modify aerodynamic properties of the at least one rotor blade by ejecting gas through the at least one aperture, said method comprising: operating the wind turbine in a normal mode; determining whether an estimated insect density value surrounding the wind turbine is above an insect density threshold value based on a measured environmental condition; and changing a mode of the wind turbine from the normal mode to a cleaning mode different than the normal mode based on the estimated insect density value, the cleaning mode including adjusting at least one operation parameter of the wind turbine based on the estimated insect density value such that fouling of the at least one aperture is reduced, wherein the at least one operation parameter is a gas flow rate of the AFC system and the gas flow rate of the AFC system is increased when the estimated insect density value is larger than an insect density threshold value.