Apparatus For Harvesting Energy From A Body Of Water And A Method

Device for harnessing energy from a body of water, which device

• comprises a Darrieus rotor having at least two Darrieus rotor blades, and
• comprises at least two connecting arms which connect the Darrieus rotor blades with a central axis, wherein per Darrieus rotor blade a first, proximal section of a connecting arm is connected to the central axis, and a point of the connecting arm situated at a distance of the proximal section is connected to a first point on the Darrieus rotor blade, and
• the Darrieus rotor and the connecting arms are rotatable about a common axis of rotation,
• each Darrieus rotor blade on a second point thereof, in longitudinal direction of the Darrieus rotor blade situated at a distance of the first point, is or is not connected with the central axis of the device via a second connecting arm,
• wherein
• at least the connection between the point of a connecting arm situated at a distance of the first proximal section and the first point on a Darrieus blade is a hingable connection,
• for every Darrieus rotor blade, of at least one connecting arm the connection between the proximal section of the connecting arm and the central axis is a rigid connection,
• wherein the axis of rotation of the hingable connection
• is at an angle α of less than 30° with a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the Darrieus rotor, and
• is at an angle β of less than 15° with a plane perpendicular to a line that runs from the axis of rotation of the Darrieus rotor to the leading edge of the particular Darrieus rotor blade near the hinge, which line is situated in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the Darrieus rotor.