FAQ  

What are some known kite electricity methods?
(without yet asking about the economies or efficiencies of a method)

Following a lead of Domina Jalbert as he confided in Tal Streeter, the world of water kites (paravanes) is as valid a kite concern as the world of air kites. Kites "flown" in water depths or air heights --for the purpose of generating electricity--has drawn the attention of scientists, technicians, commercial leaders, and recreationists.    What is seemingly just for air kites has kin analogues in paravane or underwater kite structures and systems.  Underwater paravanes anchored to shores of rivers, ocean currents, dam releases, tidal flows,  etc. are potential sources of water-kite-based hydroelectricity.
                                                          (not yet comprehensive)

  • Generator position
    • Generators lofted with electricity stored and/or perhaps used aloft.
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      •  
    • Generators lofted with electricity sent to ground via conductors or beams.
    • Generators lofted with energy sent to ground via microwave.
    • Generators kept on the ground while mechanical energy of dynamic kite systems operate generators.
    • Store kite-obtained energy in various forms only to later use the energy for work or for generating electricity.
       
  • Solar-energy
    • Kite part surfaces made with double-purposed solar-radiation converting structures (convert radiation to electricity).
    • Areas on earth that have persistent clouds or fog: kytoons flown above the clouds that are made with solar-converting textiles and thin solar-cell films may provide an electrical source for practical uses.
    • v
       
  • Motion types:
    • Kite line motion
      • Oscillations and cycles
      • "hunting turbine"  (Dave Santos)
      • Lateral  rail boating
      • Out-and-in cycling, pulsating tension controlled by angle of attack changes or by porosity changes ...via smart programs or reactionary robots
      • Line in loop driven around itself
      • Line in loop with fixed kite point in lateral motion driving loop through ground generators
      • Line torsion, rotating the kite line to transfer energy
      • Controlled direction to rotate levers (circles or left-to-right)
      • Oscillating shape of kite line to achieve variable line windage for tugging grounded generator.
      • Cable wave energy tapped by linear alternators. Springs aiding in maintaining resonant frequencies.
      • Wind-cable power conversion systems
      • Line is made sturdy to transfer direct torsion to ground generator. Torsion is achieve by propellers. Torsion-sturdied line or rod or tube or tensegrity tower may be held by lofted lifter or not.
         
    • Kite line "laundry"
      • On  devices that rotate, flutter, jiggle, contract-release, oscillate
      • From the main kiteline, hang sublines with active devices that generate electricity either directly or by virtue of transmitted kinetic energy
      •  Cable-suspended resonant wind engine
         
    • Kite's tail
      • part can be spinning; that spinning can run a small generator for work on the kite, for charging batteries, or for sending electricity to ground for use or storage. Flutter, pulsation, oscillation, spinning, and alternations (size, porosity, shape, position) may be mechanically or smartly attained to provide changes leading generator drives.
      • Any of the methods of morphing a kite's wing body (see) or its line or its line laundry (see) could be applied to tails.
      • Tails may be free or constrained to a ground generator which position is weathervaned or is moved by tail forces or by ground-control forces to provide differences that could be transformed to making electricity.
    • Kite motion:
      • Rotating spanwise kite
      • Rotating vertical axis kite
      • Rotating windwise axis kite
      • Up and down
      • Large circles to drive levers on the ground
      • Figure of eights to drive line position to drive levers on the ground
      • Free-gliding kite hang gliders (pilot's falling mass moors and tugs the kite through short kite lines during free-flight) mounted with generator and propeller are being considered for generating electricity to charge on-board batteries for use in extending flight range by motor when needed. Researcher: Taras Kiceniuk, Jr. and others.
      • Driving rocker levers
      • Driving circular rings with kites attached to the circumference of the ring
      • Wafting
      • Wave pulsation (air or water)
      • Shape changing by inflation pressure oscillations to produce tug variations
      • Pulsating porosity
      • Pneumatic shape pulsations
      • Reverse method developed in http://www.google.com/patents?id=o750AAAAEBAJ
      • Reverse invention for water-kite electricity generation: UNDULATING SURFACE DRIVING SYSTEM
      • Shape morphing via "cavexing" [Faust]
      • Shape morphing of airfoil by one of many methods
      • Pulsation, oscillation, on-off tugs, pull-relax-pull, some-none, open-close, yes-no, light-dark, small-big, short-long, left-right, binary, up-down, out-in, large-small, on-off, pitch-less-pitch, cycling, intermittent, buffeting, fluttering, vibrating, interrupt, valving, shunting, open-close, porous-non-porous, weak-strong, stiff-bendy, taut-loose, smooth-rough, faster-slower, moving-non-moving, twirling-non-twirling, more-less, clockwise-counterclockwise, hard-soft, intake-outtake, expand-contract, inhale-exhale, grab-release, push-release, bend-release, fill-empty, connect-disconnect, expose-hide, tighten-loosen, sloshing, hot-cold, wet-dry, static-ground, touch-untouch, aileron up-then down, flap up then down, flip-flip, fore-aft, back-forth, give-take, push-pull, connect-disconnect, energize-off, power-depower, center-off-center, hole-no-hole, upwind-downwind, roll-unroll, ruddering, brake-release, friction on-friction-off, rotate-pause, reel in-let-out, bulbous-slim, telescope out-back-in, wide-less-wide, aspect-ratio increase-decrease,  twist-untwist, stress-relax, porous-not-porous, compress-decompress, flexing-relaxing, one-direction-then-another (any rotational amount differential), raise-lower, wax-wane, reel-unreel, ebb-flow, hard-soft, inflating-deflating, wave-unwave, increase-decrease, more amplitude-less amplitude, oneway-otherway, "cavex-de-cavex" , balance-imbalance, pump-release, over-under,  yank-pause, tensioning-retensioning, tension-compression, firm-flaccid, yo-yo, symmetrical-asymmetrical,  etc.  Use such binary opposites to produce  alternating tugs to drive a grounded electric generator.   Spread and narrow anchor points or other points in systems and arches.
      • Musical kites point to fluttering mechanics that can feed electric generation
      • v
         
  • Combinatorial arrangements
    • Kytoon sky anchor or lifter
       
    • Lifter kites holding curtains or sail towers saturated with turbines
       
    • Cable between mountains or hills over a valley; cables hold wind-driven forms
       
    • Line-held rotating surfaces (line axis or perpendicular to line), wind turbines (on line or draped)
       
    • Surfaces of the kite system may be solar-energy converters
       
    • Collections of lifter kites lofting vertical curtains of wind-maintaining rotation forms can coupled with ground-based generators receiving torques from above. Kytoons could drape wind-rotated forms on mooring lines.
       
    • As mentioned in Richard Miller's Without Visible Means of Support  and restated by Dr. Paul MacCready ...and experienced in some land and water craft, there is a sector of dual-body systems that permit directing forces to advantages. Miller and MacCready pointed to two varied kites coupled in differential wind environments but fully lofted in the atmosphere. The smart coupling and dynamics may provide dynamic soaring or possibly be utilized to tap some of the forces for generating electricity for sustaining flight of the system or stored..  Likewise, in water or the interface of water and air, coupled kites of either sort may do work when properly arranged.
       
    • Air kite tacking water kite or boat: then have part of the water situation be with a water turbine driving electric generation.
       
    • Laddermill strategy            Ockels              TUDelft
       
    • Kite powered windmill, oscillating kite-powered tensioned loop. Use any type of kite for niche purposes. Use fully limp parafoils or stiffened kites or hard-surfaced airfoils or kiteplanes or kited gliders. Consider letting the kite or kiteplane be remotely controlled or smartly robot controlled, or even live-human controlled in the air for giving pilot practice to recreational or professional pilots. As the pilot guides the kite from side to side in the wind window, s(he) gets flying practice and entertainment ..while pulling the bi-line tether (loop) through ground-based generators; the loop can be very long and the flying path can be wide or not. In each power change of direction of the kite, an increase in apparent wind occurs and the potential of tension to pull the loop line through ground generators permits high chance to generate electricity. All of this can be robotized.  If the kite or kiteplane is lighter than air, then the kytoon can remain up in the high altitudes during wind lulls. Universal joints on the gorund can permit wind direction to change greatly while still driving the same ground-based generators.  The ground-based generators could be underground to save on real estate grab; or the generators could be raised on a roof while the ground remains for other real estate uses.
       
    • Air kites in combination with water kites (tether, fixed coupling, RC, smart, oscillating)
       
    • Morphing kytoons  using some of the ideas of the http://www.fuellessflight.com  while taping the motions up and down for electricity generating
       
    • Kytoon gas expansion and contraction used to drive generator. Raise and lower the kytoon. Or raise and lower lifter kites while lifting balloon whose cavexors are couple with electric generators
       
    • As manned-kite-glider glides: let propeller set on the free-flying kite be driven by the ambient apparent wind; let that propeller drive an electric generator to charge batteries onboard. Later: Use the charged batteries to drive the propeller for extending flight.   Regenerative charging. Taras Kiceniuk, Jr.
       
    • Flutter of underwater kite or fishing lure could generate electricity to light the lure to attract fish (now many lighted lures use tiny batteries; proposed: go direct: let the kiting flutter of the lure generate the electricity to light the lure; look Mom, no batteries!). Such are patented:
      Electronic fishing lure
      US Pat. 6457275 - Filed Nov 2, 2000 - Pro-Troll, Inc.
      US 6457275 Bl (45) Date of Patent: Oct., 2002 (54) ELECTRONIC FISHING LURE (75)
      Inventor: Cecil R. Spurgeon, Richmond, CA (US) (73) Assignee: Pro-Troll, ...

      [APPLICATION] Electronic flasher fishing lure
      US Pat. 10844687 - Filed May 13, 2004 -
      6457275 Bl (the '275 patent) which teaches that when the voltage generator or
      emitter is attached to a trolling lure which experiences jerky movement ...
       

    • Reverse what is known in flapping mechanical wings and ornithopter technology to have the wind drive generators
       
    • alter airfoil near twitch point to get large changes of direction, (camber changing, rear of airfoil morphing, interior of airfoil camber changing)
       
    • Wind operated noise making devices converted to driving electric generators
       
    • Air kite system tows water-based electricity-generating turbine around the ocean. The electricity is stored and used later.  Locate wind paths where reverse direction may happen. Control kite system's tacking to increase power.
       
    •  Use kite mechanical energies to pump water for later use to obtain hydroelectricity.
       
    •  Wind Dam
       
    • Turbines on cables
       
    • Double-kite coupled systems to play the two kites in their ever-distinct wind environments in order to get a net system pulsation for use in generating electricity. Smart controlling will be needed.
    • Reel out for power stroke. Depower kite. Easier reel in.     David Lang
    • Fly Gen
    • Buggy
    • Sail
    • Power Gen   Peter Lynn
    • Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. Kites dragging a electricity-generating turbine through the ocean's water provides renewable hydroelectricity.
       
  • Atmospheric electricity and kite systems    Tease1.   wikiAE   Distinguish between capturing lightning and the different challenge of harnessing for utility the electrical potential differences in atmospheric layers and ground. Could kite systems be designed to capture and store the potential difference?
     
  • Electrodynamic tethers       Wiki      
     
  • See also:
  • Dave Santos:
     "The latest "disruptive" tech is a super-cheap simple self-tacking sail under a stable lifter kite yanking on spring-loaded cranks or pistons; anyone can do it!"
     
  • Let recreational hang glider training double as an electricity-generation system. Let the piloted kite out into ambient wind. The pilot spends 3 hours doing figure eights in the sky in a stiff wind. The pilot controls the kite into figures and pulsations. The wind itself will change during the hours. Use the line tension changes and direction changes to generate electricity on the ground.  The pilot has fun, gets flight training, and generates electricity all in an afternoon of being up in the air flying. The pilot gets exercise, recreation, good view, entertainment, and a chance to charge some batteries or give energy to a grid.
     
  • Wind may lift and drag air kites moored to water turbines that are fixed or mobile. Move cargo by kite tug even while the tug turns water turbines making electricity; arrive with charged giant batteries or ultracapacitors; off-load cargo and the gained electricity. The wind and water are there inviting humans to draw upon the huge renewable energy without pollution. 
     
  • Heavier-than-water water kites "flown" in water currents with water turbines
     
  • Lighter-than-water water kites "flown" in water currents with water turbines
     
  • Pulsating kytoon drives ground-based dynamo.  Charge batteries of ground-based home or vehicle. No fixed tower needed as windmills.  Kytoon stays aloft as wind stops or changes direction. Use part of the wind's energy to cause line pulsation.
     
  • http://www.main.org/polycosmos/silicbar/sailscrw.htm   Air-hydro complex.
     
  • Robotics.   http://www.main.org/polycosmos/faustweb/faustex.htm
     
  • http://tinyurl.com/PeterLynn888TetheredFreeFlying      August 2003
     
  • Individual actuation of struts and tensional edges in tensegrity structures to get morphing that could drive aerodynamic changes that could drive electric generators. "Butterfly effect" where small changes  trigger large changes.  See also this.
     
  • http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=6829.msg152791;boardseen  Wires in earth's magnetic field  
     
  • Fly kite systems that are both moving and able to convert solar radiation to storable charges; fly the kite system above the clouds to receive wind and solar radiation.
     
  • http://www.kitegen.com/index_en.html  KiteGen
     
  • Yo-yo
     
  • aeolian technology
  • Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT)
  • Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)
  • Wind farms    (analogical kite system wind farms using upper strong winds)
  • Nonaxial wind turbines
  • Tensile-based wind systems.      Tethered wind energy systems.
  • virtual variable span wing, morphable wings, shape-changing wings, smart-shape-changing wings, etc.

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