Adaptive rotor blade for a wind turbine

1. A rotor blade for a wind turbine comprising a first module of a first type and a second module of a second type, each module comprising a distal end and a proximal end, wherein the distal end of the first module and the proximal end of the second module are configured to be attached to each other to form at least a part of the rotor blade with the first module being disposed axially inside of the second module, wherein each of said first and second modules is selected from a set of at least two differently shaped, interchangeable modules of the same type.

2. The rotor blade according to claim 1 , wherein the distal end of the first module and the proximal end of the second module each comprise a connector, the connectors being formed such that each module is interchangeable with another module of the same type.

3. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein the first module type is a root module and the second module type is a tip module.

4. The rotor blade according to claim 3 , further comprising a third type of modules wherein said third type comprises intermediate modules configured to be mounted between said first and second types of modules.

5. The rotor blade according to claim 4 , wherein the proximal end of a module of the root module type comprises a flange for mounting the module to a hub of a rotor of the wind turbine.

6. The rotor blade according to claim 1 , wherein the second module type is a tip module type and the first module is an intermediate module type or a root module type.

7. The rotor blade according to claim 6 , wherein a module of the tip module type has a standard tip shape, a straight trailing edge, a shark tip, an ogee tip shape, or a tip vane.

8. The rotor blade according to claim 1 , wherein the different modules of the same module type have a different length or a different aerodynamic profile.

9. The blade according to claim 8 , wherein the different modules of the same type have a different chord length c, maximum camber f, position of maximum camber x f , maximum airfoil thickness d, largest diameter of the inscribed circles with their centers on the mean camber line, thickness-to-chord ratio, position of maximum thickness x d , nose radius r N , or airfoil coordinates of the upper and lower side contours.

10. A kit of parts for configuring a wind turbine to a site constraint, said kit of parts comprising several modules for assembling a modular rotor blade, wherein said several modules comprise at least two differently shaped, interchangeable root-type modules and at least two differently shaped, interchangeable tip-type modules, wherein the modular rotor blade is formed with a root-type module being disposed axially inside of a tip-type module.

11. The kit of parts according to claim 10 , wherein different modules of the same type have a different longitudinal length or a different aerodynamic profile.

12. The kit of parts according to claim 11 , wherein the different modules of the same type have a different chord length c, maximum camber f, position of maximum camber Xf, maximum airfoil thickness d, largest diameter of the inscribed circles with their centers on the mean camber line, thickness-to-chord ratio, position of maximum thickness xj, nose radius r N , or airfoil coordinates of the upper and lower side contours.

13. The kit of parts according to claim 11 , further comprising an intermediate module type being adapted to be mounted between said root-type and said tip-type modules.

14. The kit of parts according to claim 10 , wherein each module in the kit of parts comprises at least one connector adapted to connect said module to at least one module of another type.

15. The kit of parts according to claim 14 , wherein a module of the tip-type modules has a standard tip shape, a straight trailing edge, a shark tip, an ogee tip shape, or a tip vane.

16. The kit of parts according to claim 10 , wherein a distal end of the root-type module and a proximal end of the tip-type module comprise a connector adapted to rigidly connect the root-type and tip-type modules to each other.

17. A method for configuring a rotor blade of a wind turbine to a site constraint, comprising:

evaluating a constraint of the wind turbine;

selecting a first module from at least two differently shaped, interchangeable first modules of the same type and selecting a second module from at least two differently shaped, interchangeable second modules of the same type, the first module and the second module each comprising a proximal and a distal end; and

fixing the distal end of the first module to the proximal end of the second module such that they are fixed with respect to each other during operation of the wind turbine and form at least a part of a rotor blade with the first module being disposed axially inside of the second module.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the modules are selected in order to optimize the energy yield of the wind turbine for the site.

19. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the site constraint is the extreme wind speed, the wind shear, the turbulence intensity, the maximum noise level of the wind turbine, or the average mean wind speed on the site.