Alternative Wind Powered Generator
Senior Design Project Princeton University Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
8 Responses to Alternative Wind Powered Generator
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Senior Design Project Princeton University Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
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.
PatrikMacGoohan
August 14, 2014 at 9:40 am
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
August 14, 2014 at 9:57 am
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
August 14, 2014 at 10:00 am
excellent video and great sound track too
naybobdenod
August 14, 2014 at 10:37 am
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!
David North
August 14, 2014 at 11:03 am
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 !!!
williamxxx40
August 14, 2014 at 11:46 am
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
August 14, 2014 at 11:59 am
Great. EnergyKiteSystems in the dot net space has now a folder going on
your project. Please keep the editor informed of all AWES studies and
projects at Princeton. Thanks.
Joe Faust
August 14, 2014 at 12:55 pm