WIND TURBINE CLASSIFICATIONS BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

What's the difference between HAWT and VAWT?

When air flows around an object, two forces act on the object, drag and lift . Accordingly, we have turbines that work based on either of these forces. Th us, in general, we have lift -based (or lift -type) turbines and drag-based (or drag-type) turbines.

Th is categorization is based on the type of active force that makes the turbines turn. Turbines can also be classifi ed based on their axis, whether it is horizontal or vertical. Axis here refers to their main shaft about which the rotating parts revolve.

Certain turbine types can work only with a horizontal axis, while others can work with a horizontal axis or a vertical axis, and even they can be installed with their axis at an angle. In this sense, a wind turbine can be classifi ed as a horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) or a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT).

Even without more details about any particular turbine, one can see a major diff erence between a horizontal-axis wind turbine and a vertical-axis wind turbine. Since in most cases wind blows horizontally, a wind turbine whose axis is horizontal (HAWT) is sensitive to the direction of wind.

Th is is not true for a turbine with vertical axis (VAWT), because no matter what the direction of wind, such a turbine can catch the wind.

Another advantage of a vertical-axis turbine is the fact that all the other equipment such as generator and gearbox do not need to be on the top of the tower, as is usually the case for a HAWT. So, they are easier to access when necessary.

Tip: A horizontal-axis wind turbine is sensitive to wind direction.

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