Kite Electricity Generating Systems

by
David Santos
at
 KiteLab
in Ilwaco, Washington USA;  Austin, TX; Los Angeles, CA; and other sites

---air, water, underwater, and hybrid kite systems---

See also growing KiteLab files

KiteChip            Sep 7, 2008
is a longitudinally asymmetric foil with a three point bridle; it loops stably under a lifter kite..

Attached video shows foil tied to a fifteen foot tall boat-shed frame in a 7 knot breeze. the ~five foot long device sweeps a twelve foot disk.       [Short video: KiteChip.mpg]

This is the Holy Grail of kite wind power--just the potent sweeping tip of a wind turbine

A line secured orthogonal to the spin axis will directly pump a spring-loaded piston.

A swivel allows unlimited spin,  Angle-of-attack (AoA) control allows stopping or reverse (to unwind without swivel), a tiny micro-powered on-board screw-jack suffices to adjust AoA to stop (depower) or reverse the foil.

A generator on the ground with a ratcheted crank-and-eccentric flywheel can be driven by this oscillating Spanish-windlass force.

Besides Wayne's inspiration (many thanks to Wayne German [WG1, WG2] for his visionary explorations into tethered-foils).  The "kitechip" dynamics were suggested by the bullroarer, a Paleolithic tethered foil device, and the spinning string disk toy called a jynx by ancient Greeks-- both perform long period system oscillation as the string winds up and tightens as a Spanish-windlass, slows, reverses depowered, accelerates, powers-up, tightens, slows, and so on. A kite-based device can work on these principles without added control systems,

This is KiteMotor7, latest in a string of successful kite-energy prototypes on varied principles.

<== Click  to enlarge a still clip from the video.

          Kite motor 5   
                   Video is large 5 MB  file, but its unique showing is worth it:
                   >> kitmot5b.mpg      LARGE 5 MB

<==Large still photo.
 

Other explorations:

Recent:

Sputnik
 Flipper-Wings

Earlier:

Micro-blimps

 

Water kites

Dave reported:  "I have done water-kites for nearly two years on the Columbia River/Pacific. I've  made electricity at tidal choke-points by simply leaning turbines into the water. Most ideas in air apply in water--and conversely, fishing tech is perfected multi-tether tech for repurposing in the sky. Billions of person-hours of refinement!

The photo is of  my collection of 21 water kites developed by fishermen-- half my own design. I will be able to fly off the big delta (small-ship stabilzer) with a power kite in the air, the new sailing as long proposed high-speed sailing visionaries (HAPAs).                 [Hyperlinking is done by Editor.]