Patent ID: 8410622

Claim:
A vertical axis wind turbine for extracting energy from wind having a direction, said vertical axis wind turbine comprising: a tower; a shaft that is mounted in said tower; a rotor assembly that is attached to said shaft, said rotor assembly comprising at least one spoke; at least one wing or blade that is pivotably attached to each said at least one spoke, each at least one wing or blade having a chord line and an angle of attack and being operative to generate lift; at least one servomotor, each said at least one servomotor being attached to each said at least one wing or blade and to each said at least one spoke and being operative to adjust the orientation of each said at least one wing or blade relative to said at least one spoke; a plurality of sensors that measure a wind direction, a wind speed, a direction of said at least one wing or blade, a speed of said at least one wing or blade, a rotor assembly position and a rotor assembly speed and produce output signals; and a computer that is operative to iteratively accept said output signals, calculate an apparent wind direction, and send an input signal to each said at least one servomotor to change said angle of attack of each said at least one wing or blade so as to maximize the power output of the vertical axis wind turbine; wherein said angle of attack is an angle between said chord line and the said apparent wind direction.