Comments on: Kite Energy Generation Plants To Cost Considerably Less Than Turbines

By: cruz

cruz — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:31:00 +0000

hello
i’am doing a research to make a playground carousel that would produce energy when it spins…if you have any information or a website with information send me an e-mail to ryder_cru@hotmail.com.

By: Al

Al — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:58:18 +0000

Nic/Geoff/Joe, The carousel can easily be made to turn, if you think it can’t, you have clearly never flown a modern controllable kite, they can either pull down wind, 90 degrees either side of downwind or not at all if kept at zenith. If you still can’t figure this out, get 2 kites and a friend and do it on a kids playground roundabout(dont know if they have these in the US). You’ll get some stange looks but it does work!

see http://www.skysails.de for ship pulling

By: Kite Energy Generation Plants to Cost Considerably Less Than Turbines - Alternative Energy Diggs

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 00:59:36 +0000

[...] of about 250-300 km**2 and an energy production cost 40-50% higher than thermal plants.â€read more | digg [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:15:55 +0000

Here is the link. It’s old news but I find it really interesting.

http://www.kiteship.com/marine.php

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:11:41 +0000

That’s really interesting. Great concept. Have you seen the one where they use kites to help pull tanker ships? That one is cool as well.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:06:48 +0000

Oh, the kites twirl. Wha??

I’ll bet they’re looking for investors.

By: Michael d'Estries

Michael d'Estries — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:35:00 +0000

Here’s how Wired describes the process:

“When wind hits the KiteGen, kites spring from funnels at the ends of poles. For each kite, winches release a pair of high-resistance cables to control direction and angle. The kites are not your Saturday-afternoon park variety but similar to those used for kite surfing — light and ultra-resistant, capable of reaching an altitude of 2,000 meters.

KiteGen’s core is set in motion by the twirl of the kites; the rotation activates large alternators producing current. A control system on autopilot optimizes the flight pattern to maximize the juice produced as it sails on night and day. A radar system can redirect kites within seconds in case of any interference: oncoming helicopters, for example. Or small planes or even single birds.”

There’s also a video of the concept here: http://sequoiaonline.com/blogs/ARCHIVIOscelti/filmkwg.mov

By: Geoff

Geoff — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:26:55 +0000

The pictured design would never work for wind generation: all the kites are pulling in the same direction. To work the kites would need to be put in a non-power position on the up-wind side of the rotation and back into a power position (45 degrees) on the downwind side. Additionally, parafoils are notoriously difficult to launch automatically. On a light wind day this design would simply become a tangled mess.

By: nic

nic — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:54:15 +0000

Uh, let me be the first to notice this, but that thing will not turn. You’d need 2 seperate air currents in opposite directions to make the turbine work. As a concept it’s really just a glorified kite holder.