"Crosswind Power" is the superior geometry for AWE, SurfaceGens the safest configuration, & Kite Carts an attractive way to drive a generator at high rpm.

Dave Lang's 2004 preliminary Drachen Foundation study, Using Kites to Generate Electricity: Plodding Low Tech Approach Wins, has two schemes called "buggy" and "sail" by Joe Hadzicki and Jose Sainz, respectively, where a cart runs crosswind pulling a line unreeled from a generator at each end of the run. How the crosswind path is to follow wind shifts is undefined; and  generator duty-cycle is not quite 50%. Other AWE schemes involve a generator cart on a circular or oval track with conductive rails. The track takes wind from any direction but has a high capital cost and a large part of a loop cycle is direct downwind and direct upwind, with little or no power generated. All these cart schemes must somehow take tremendous side forces by side resistance of the wheels to the rails or surface. The following setup resolves these issues.

A Surface-Tether consisting of a tensile cable and electrical conductor is run from a single elevated central anchor point to a generator cart. Like the "buggy/sail" methods, the cart shuttles back-and- forth crosswind, but downwind of the anchor. Like the loop track, the cart carries the generator. Resistance to side force is optimally provided by the tensile cable, with wind taken from any direction. Generator duty cycle is far higher and capital cost far lower than prior schemes

FairIP/CoopIP                       ~Dave Santos             June 27,2010        M1713

Comment and development of this topic will be occurring here.        All, send notes!

Terms and aspects:   

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Commentary is welcome:

•  The tracks of abandoned rail lines that run through rural windswept regions may provide the foundation upon which to develop kite-based wind power conversion . . . . pull the railcars in alternate directions . . . electric generators on the railway axles . . . . use 3rd rail to pick up the power and transfer power to the grid or into storage       ~~ Harry
   
• There are railway designs that use different wheels for vertical loads and transverse loads (eg: Montreal rubber-tire subway).
        The concept below could work at certain coastal locations in Newfoundland, Canada . . . there are abandoned railway lines and rail rights-of-way in that region.        ~~ Harry
   
• The "track" is also called a "race".
  The "cars" are also called "balls".
  Together with magnets and a stator, the result is called "a generator"
  The "kites" traveling across the wind are called "blades".
  The "path" is also called "a circle".
  A planar array of such kites traveling in a circle is called "a rotor"
  The "tethers" are also called "fibers".
  The configuration of the tethers following the circular path resolves to "a tube".
  Since the path goes into the sky, the result is a tube, made of fibers, extending into the sky.
  According to U.S. Patent 6616402, that tube extending skyward is called "a driveshaft/tower"
  Many levels of "kites" (blades) are combined to drive a single generator.
  The result:  the flying version of "a SuperTurbine ®"
  You are back to SuperTurbine®) where all roads lead...
  :)
  (Superturbine® is a registered U.S. Trademark)
  ~~ Doug Selsam
  http://www.USWINDLABS.com
  
   
• Doug,
  Tether-Car AWE can be driven from a high flying kite in great wind beyond any practical tower.
  It really is hard to imagine high-altitude AWE requires "driveshaft/towers" instead of kitestring.
  If all roads lead to the SuperTurbine (R), surely beyond it is the towerless UltraTurbine™   ;^)
•  
• AirborneWindEnergy/conversations/messages/12246  rail and track
• The Ground as an AWES Hub
• Dynamic Snatch-Block Line-Trolley (crossing junctions)
• Christof Beaupoil
• NTS Energie
• Project Sea Tree
• Stick-Slip Pumping to Haul a Loop Cableway
• MegaScale AWES
•