Helicopter-like Wind Turbine Generates Wind Energy At 1,000+ Ft
By Liviu Anca- October 11, 2011
- Environment, Science
The whole world is trying to find alternative ways to produce energy lately. The wind turbines are widely used as renewable energy sources, but because they depend on weather they are not so reliable. That’s why to the time being researchers are trying to find new ways to collect energy using the wind power.
But what can you do if the wind is not wanting to drive your wind turbines? You send the wind turbines to the wind.
That’s the main philosophy behind the Wind 7 turbines. Most of the wind turbines you’ve seen before look just like gigantic windmills. The Wind 7 is more of a helicopter. The new concept is able to take off and fly 1,000+ feet high to harvest wind power. If you’d ask me I’d say they look more like kites because of the long power cable that connects them to the ground.
Wing 7 is a 130 pound, 28 foot wide turbine developed by Makni Power, and looks like a dragonfly when compared to the traditional wind turbines. But size doesn’t matter (it’s the best thing I heard today), as Wing 7 can generate 20 kilowatts with just 22 mph worth of wind. Once the helicopter turbine find an altitude with steady wind, the long tail comes in use and positions the craft to take the most of the “high winds.”
In 2007, Google.org invested $10 million in Makani Power, a company that produces electric energy based on wind power harvested by kites (in our case, helicopter-like kites).
Countries like Great Britain, Holland, Ireland and Denmark, countries famous for their powerful winds, already showed their interest in developing wind plants based on kites, mostly because they are more cost-effective.
Compared to traditional wind turbines, the Wind 7 turbines have the advantage that it gathers wind energy from 100 times bigger heights. While the wind turbines harvest wind energy, at a maximum of 250 feet, the Wind 7 can rise up to 1,300 feet.
While on ground the wind speed is of about 10 mph, at 1,300 feet the wind can blow with up to 20 mph.
2 Responses
Hey what’s to stop an ultra lite hybrid from hooking into one of these from a long cable and using it as a mobile power source that flies along at a much higher altitude than the ultra lite? Could we have fuel-less flights in the future?