Alternative Wind Powered Generator

[MucusFelidae]

When that is "engineering",

then

I am the Emperor of China.

[naybobdenod]

excellent video and great sound track too

[williamxxx40]

I don't know much about the subject, however, why not inflate the kite with Helium (make a ballon-like kite) and then anchor the kite with 4 lines located one on the northeast, one northwest, one east and one west, (the machine would be on the south).

That way the kyte will stay high in the air and will be stable.

Great job !!!

[jasonrj8992]

All that for 4.2 Watts of power. Seriously though, cool project. It would be even cooler if you utilized sensors to make the steering system automatic. I know how it is with senior projects though. This is one of many that I've seen on here that was actually impressive.

[PatrikMacGoohan]

You'd have to keep the kites and blimps free of ice. Crew could serve for weeks at a time, but eventually... How do you shuttle crew down from a blimp 11 miles high through several blimp stations? What happens if a string of kites the size of a football fields breaks off? Eventually they'll fall, catch on buildings and reinflate. That might pull buildings over or at least drag cars and trees around. Maybe some kind of self destruct line cutter to break kites and lines in smaller parts...

[PatrikMacGoohan]

The huge blimps, big as a city with their graphene skins would rotate and pull themselves into the wind providing a sky anchor for the higher blimps and flexifoil kites in the stronger winds. Stations would get smaller as you went up higher. Power transmitted to the ground through graphene lines. The blimps might have to be manned since it would be a challenge to pilot them in the 97mph winds while producing power and avoiding aircraft. All of it anchored to a huge ground station.

[PatrikMacGoohan]

Steel wire attached to the ground would attract lightning and probably melt in a lightning strike (or could they transmit the lightning to ground without damage to kite or lines?) Lightning would be additional source of energy?

I thought numerous huge hydrogen blimps using the magnusen effect could be set aloft at different altitudes but on the same line. Winds at different altitudes can move at different speeds and directions. Kites generators could be flown from the blimp stations.

[PatrikMacGoohan]

Love your machine and the fact that you've made it all from scratch. I got interested in kite power generating after reading about KiteGen and Delft. I ran into some unsolvable problems.

The high steady winds are at high altitude (5 to 11 miles high). Lines holding a kite at that altitude would have to be substantial and therefore heavy. This would sap power, but would also be tricky to get airborne. Next prob is stretching of lines if generator is on ground. Then lightning.

[josephdupont]

I was thinking about using a big big fly wheel

which would work like a piston engine.

by just alternating the lift you could create power strokes.

[ddjive]

Fantastic stuff !! Have you been in contact with Wubbo Ockels, a professor and ex-astronaut at Delft Universty, Netherlands, who is also doing extensive kite power research? Italians are also working on this (KiteGen). High altitude kite power is the next logical step in wind energy. Ground based wind turbines are a dead end due to the limited wind speed at 50 m alt. We are also planning on an extensive kite power test program here at NASA Langley Research Center. Keep up the good work!