Patent ID: 8482147

Claim:
A wind turbine system to generate electricity from wind energy, comprising: a tower that is able to rotate as a whole about a longitudinal axis therethrough; a nacelle fixedly attached adjacent a top of the tower without the possibility of the nacelle rotationally yawing about the tower; a turbine rotor supported by the nacelle, the rotor having a hub and a plurality of blades supported by the hub; a pitch mechanism to rotate the rotor blades in a desired angular position about the rotor blades longitudinal axis; a top rotation transfer member driven by the turbine rotor; a bottom rotation transfer member located inside the tower and substantially adjacent a bottom portion of the tower, wherein the top rotation transfer member comprises a first crankshaft connected to and driven by the turbine rotor, and wherein the bottom rotation transfer member comprises a second crankshaft connected to the generator; a flexible power transfer member inside the tower connecting the top rotation transfer member and the bottom rotation transfer member to transfer wind energy captured by the turbine rotor from the top rotation transfer member to the bottom rotation transfer member; a supporting platform substantially near a bottom of the tower to support the bottom rotation transfer member and a generator connected to the bottom rotation transfer mechanism; and, a powered tower rotation mechanism to rotate the tower about the tower's longitudinal axis in order to orient the turbine rotor in the desired direction with respect to the wind.