The major factors involved in deciding the number of blades are as follows:

• The effect on power coefficient

• The design TSR
• The means of limiting yaw rate to reduce the gyroscopic fatigue.
Compared to the two-blade design, the three-blade machine are more
common, as they give smoother power output and a balanced gyroscopic force.
There is no need to teeter the rotor, allowing the use of a simple rigid hub.
Large machines up to several MW are being built using the three-blade
configuration. Some machines in the past, especially in the U.S., have been
two-blade design. Adding the third blade increases the power coefficient only
by about 5%, thus giving a diminished rate of return for the 50% more blade
weight and cost. The two-blade rotor is also simpler to erect, because it can be
assembled on the ground and lifted to the shaft without complicated
maneuvers during the lift. The number of blades is often viewed as the blade
solidity. Higher solidity ratio gives higher starting torque and leads to low
speed operation. For electric power generation, the turbine must run at high
speeds as the electrical generator weighs less and operates more efficiently at
high speeds. That is why all large-scale wind turbines have low solidity ratio,
with just two or three blades.