There has long been motivation for alternative energy sources to reduce the dependency on non-renewable energy sources such as oil and coal. There has long been interest in harnessing wind to generate electricity particularly in areas with a high or relatively continuous stream of wind energy.
There have been challenges and previously proposed solutions for harnessing wind energy through use of electric wind turbines. These large windmill-type structures suffer from many disadvantages including, the ability to adjust to variable wind conditions in either or both of direction or velocity. Additional disadvantages of prior wind turbines include relatively low efficiency rates due to standard designs that are employed in environments not suitable for the particular wind turbine design or initial set-up. Due to the size and mass of large wind turbines, premature structural fatigue and failure of components occur. Prior wind turbines also suffer from inefficient and complex designs.
Thus it is desirable to improve on prior wind turbine designs to increase the turbine's ability to harness the wind energy, improve the efficiency in converting the wind energy to electricity and to simplify and improve their design, manufacturing and operation.