Light weight mast for supporting a wind turbine

Abstract

A vertical axis wind turbine is supported by a durable and lightweight composite mast comprising a foam material and a support material, wherein the foam material is either (i) layered within or (ii) distributed among the support material. The foam material may be selected from polyethylene, cross-linked polyethylene, ethafoam, polyester, polyether, ether-like-ester, expanded polystyrene, and/or polyurethane. The support material may be selected from steel, metal, carbon nanotubes, and/or plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polystyrene, polylactic acid, polycarbonate, acrylic, acetal and/or nylon. A mixture ratio between the foam material and the support material may be at least 15:1. The mast may comprise a central core layer of foam and a peripheral layer of the support material. In an embodiment, adjacent layers of the central core layer and the peripheral layers alternate between the core and support materials.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.