Wind Turbine Blades

• Wind turbine blades are a key component of a wind turbine. Wind turbines are machines that turn wind energy into mechanical energy. The mechanical energy is then converted to electricity. Large utility-scale wind turbines use rotating wind turbine blades to generate that power.
• Utility-scale wind turbines have over 8,000 parts. The turbines rotate around either a horizontal axis or a vertical axis. Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) are more common than vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT). An HAWT can be up to 50 percent more efficient than a VAWT, because of design and location factors.
• The HAWT evolved from the European four-bladed wood and fabric windmills. Modern large wind turbines use three blades because, aerodynamically, an odd number of blades is more efficient. Each wind turbine blade is approximately 65 to 130 feet (20 to 40 m) long.