Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) suffer from lower performance compared to traditional Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines reducing their economic competitiveness. Using Individual Pitch Control, I uncovered that a unique pitch law along the MPPT phase can be used to close the gap by increasing VAWTs performance by more than 15%. The Pitch system was designed and tested on Nenuphar large scale prototype.

For winds above rated speed, Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) suffer from dynamical stall leading to a drastic thrust and loads increase. With Individual Pitch Control, I found that VAWTs loads and thrust can be contained under their rated values which can also be tuned with a peak shaving strategy. Less materials can then be used to build VAWTS increasing their economic competitiveness.

I invented a feathered mode  for survival in extreme weather leading to minimum aerodynamic thrust and no blades Vortex Induced Vibrations. If the wind changes direction, the rotor will rotate accordingly without the need of a power supply, which is a critical advantage over traditional feather modes used on Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines. Wind tunnel tests and field measurements on large-scale prototypes validated the strategy.