Researchers develop drones-sprayable coatings to protect wind turbines from ice

Damp, cold conditions are the enemy of wind power. If a layer of ice forms on the rotor blades, this can result in rotational imbalance and, hence, increased wear.

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In such cases, the turbines often have to be shut down for several days, leading to massive losses for the operators due to the pause in electricity production. Now, for the first time, a Fraunhofer team has succeeded in using drones to protect rotor blades against ice. The new technique has been developed jointly by experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM and the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in the project "TURBO - Temporary coating by means of drones."