General Electric Company

Andrew Scott Wilkinson

Jeffrey Alan Melius

Cyrus David Harbourt

Howard Ross Edmunds

Amy Marlene Ridenour

William John Bonneau

Brian Nedward Meyer

Christopher Todd Moore

Brian Matthew Aiken

Brian Eric Lindholm

Christopher James McMenamin

Christopher Lee Tschappatt

David Gerard Wanner, Jr

David Gerard Wanner

Jeffrey Alan Mulius

A method for controlling a pitch control system of a wind turbine includes providing a charged backup battery configured to supply no energy to a DC link when full AC input power is available, wherein the DC link includes a DC link capacitor. The method further includes using energy stored in the DC link capacitor to operate a pitch control system during a loss or dip of AC input power, and maintaining charge on the DC link capacitor using the charged backup battery as voltage across the DC link capacitor drops during the operation of the pitch control system.

Pitch control battery backup methods and system

A rotor for a wind turbine generator includes a rotatable hub forming a cavity. A plurality of rotor blades is connected to the hub. A heat sink is at least partially positioned within the cavity and extends along a portion of a corresponding rotor blade. The heat sink includes a bottom surface mounted on a thermal energy generating component of the wind turbine generator. An opposing top planar surface includes a plurality of pins extending therefrom. The pins form an air flow path through the pins to dissipate the generated thermal energy from the thermal energy generating component.

Method and apparatus for gravity induced thermal energy dissipation

A method for powering a pitch motor drive system for at least one DC pitch motor of a wind turbine includes rectifying a voltage using a bridge circuit to thereby supply a DC link voltage to a bridge comprising active switching devices, and utilizing at least one link capacitor to smooth the DC link voltage and act as an energy sink and source for the DC pitch motor or motors.

Methods and apparatus for pitch control power conversion

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Andrew Scott Wilkinson