Kites Could Become Major Source Of Wind Power
The idea to use kites for wind power is nothing new, but a development at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands reminds us that we haven’t even begun to tap the potential of these flying contraptions.
A recent experiment performed by a team at the university used kites to create 10 kW of energy—enough to power 10 homes. This is a not a major breakthrough in and of itself, but the researchers plan to build a larger version of the project called “Laddermill” that would create 50 kW of energy. They eventually want to build a 100 MW version of their project. If successful, the expanded project would create enough power for 100,000 homes.
The kites are attached to a generator by a string. Power is created when the string is pulled and the generator turns as winds lift it into the sky.
According to Laddermill project leader Wubbo Ockels, kites are a cheap way to use energy higher up in the air, where winds carry more power due to high speeds (7 meters/sec). In contrast, turbines harvest energy closer to the ground, where wind speed is slower (5 meters/sec).
Unfortunately, Ockels predicts that the technology might not be brought to the market for a long time unless a large amount of money is made available. But if the kite generators do make it out of the lab, they may silence critics who complain about wind power’s detrimental effects on birds and scenery.
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It’s really cool that they made 10kw of electricity, but for how long? What happens when they run out of string?
cool. Could take the term “Go fly a kite” to a whole new meaning!
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
I am a big proponent of wind power (actually many different forms of renewable generation in a diversity generating plan), so don’t take this wrong….
The quoted figure of 10kW being enough for 10 homes is wrong by a factor of about 10, at least for a typical American home. The rule of thumb I have always heard is that a typical home in the USA needs to be factored for about 10kW in power-use calculations.
So unless you are talking about hypothetical homes with total energy saving implemented, 10kW is enough for just one average home, not 10 homes.
Just think: One blow dryer uses 1kW (or more!), so your 10kW == 10 homes is pretty far off the mark…..
That’s a good point, Neal. Since that appears to be the number given by Ockels and team, perhaps they are estimating based on energy usage in the Netherlands.
While it’s interesting Im not sure how practical this solution would be.
“The kites are attached to a generator by a string. Power is created when the string is pulled and the generator turns as winds lift it into the sky.”
And when the kite gets to the end of the string, … what do you do, cut it loose? This is the lamest way I’ve heard of for using kites to generate electricity.
Millions of murders? Millions of families destroyed?
Pretty much discredits every other number in your comment. Get off your liberal soap box and be glad that there are people willing to fight for this country.
Anyways, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, this seems like a cool idea. Unfortunately, I don’t see it going anywhere on a large scale basis. If you think about it, the kites would have to be quite large and the rope or whatever they’re attached to quite long. This means that you would need a lot of empty space between kites to prevent tangling, thereby making a large scale power generation project based on kites largely infeasible.
Energía eólica con cometas [ENG]…
En un experimento realizado en la Universidad Delft de Tecnología se han conseguido 10 kW de energía usando cometas, suficiente para el consumo de 10 hogares. El objetivo de los investigadores es construir una versión capaz de generar 100 MW, lo que…
[...] Kites Could Become Major Source Of Wind Power A recent experiment performed by a team at the university used kites to create 10 kW of energy
Brian: Hyperbole is the hallmark of the ignorant mind. Ever heard of the Keeling curve? It is in fact real. There is plenty of proof that global warming is caused by humans, there is a scientific consensus on it, but I know you’re disregarding that when you pick and choose what science you “believe.”
Petroleum based plastics have nothing to do with global warming, if all the oil in the world was used to create lego and ikea furniture, the world wouldn’t be any worse for wear; the problem comes when you start burning it.
Everything causes environmental damage, living in the woods eating sticks causes environmental damage, that’s a fact of existence, but there’s a big difference between the environmental damage caused by blowing up a mountain and extracting coal, transporting it to a powerplant complex, and then burning it and releasing the gas into the atmosphere and building a wind turbine. If you don’t see the logic in that, I’ll let you go back to urinating in your drinking water.