60 square meters of kite surface area is a lot of pull. 5 square meters can be enough to pick up 100kg in the right wind conditions.
Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
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Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#12Not to be a HN naysayer, but wasn't this tried already with Makani Power?[1] They even made a documentary about it[2] Compared to traditional wind turbines, this solution trades an enormous amount of complexity, maintenance, etc for small reductions in material cost. We should be churning out traditional wind turbines for cheap instead. [1] https://x.company/projects/makani/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd_hEj…
It'll make sense in some places where it's harder to build/deploy a 40kW traditional turbine. They're not easy to move and are relatively close to the ground so they are viable in fewer places than kite systems because winds aloft are much higher than those near the ground. You can also use this temporarily in areas where you have periodic power requirements and poor access to the wider electric grid. Think about deploying a lot of these in areas right after hurricanes or other disasters.
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#13Operating the kite isnt easy on its own. A lot of complexity involved in this. I am intrigued as someone who kites and develops clean energy. I have a tough time seeing how this is a set and forget situation. Maybes it the first step in a direction with something better down the road!
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#14Not to be a HN naysayer, but wasn't this tried already with Makani Power?[1] They even made a documentary about it[2] Compared to traditional wind turbines, this solution trades an enormous amount of complexity, maintenance, etc for small reductions in material cost. We should be churning out traditional wind turbines for cheap instead. [1] https://x.company/projects/makani/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd_hEj…
Not to be flip, but the fact that Google canceled a project doesn’t say a whole lot about whether that project was viable.
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#15Operating the kite isnt easy on its own. A lot of complexity involved in this. I am intrigued as someone who kites and develops clean energy. I have a tough time seeing how this is a set and forget situation. Maybes it the first step in a direction with something better down the road!
> After the tether reaches its maximum length, the ground station winches the kite back in. Though the Hawk must expend energy for reel-in, it only expends a fraction of the energy, resulting in a net energy gain that varies by wind speed. An entire cycle takes about 100 seconds: 80 for reel-out and 20 for reel-in.
This is an interesting approach. Also, the kite is doing eights all the time. Although I suspect that is only while reeling out.
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#16Not to be a HN naysayer, but wasn't this tried already with Makani Power?[1] They even made a documentary about it[2] Compared to traditional wind turbines, this solution trades an enormous amount of complexity, maintenance, etc for small reductions in material cost. We should be churning out traditional wind turbines for cheap instead. [1] https://x.company/projects/makani/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd_hEj…
This is a very different approach. The google approach is making an airplane fly in circles generating continuous power, this slowly lets a kite out then reels it in generating pulsed power that would need a battery to smooth out. This approach can use pretty standard kite technology which is far cheaper than airplane technology.
Use multiple kites in a staggered pattern so one of them is always generating near peak power. That complexity of course offsets all of the gains, but that's fine because it illustrates why this is an idea that just won't fly.
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#17Not to be a HN naysayer, but wasn't this tried already with Makani Power?[1] They even made a documentary about it[2] Compared to traditional wind turbines, this solution trades an enormous amount of complexity, maintenance, etc for small reductions in material cost. We should be churning out traditional wind turbines for cheap instead. [1] https://x.company/projects/makani/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd_hEj…
Not to be flip, but the fact that Google canceled a project doesn’t say a whole lot about whether that project was viable.
The fact that Google funds a project isn't evidence that it is viable either.
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#1860 square meters of kite surface area is a lot of pull. 5 square meters can be enough to pick up 100kg in the right wind conditions.
A sailboat typically flies about 5 - 8 square meters of material in the sails, pulling 3 - 4 tons of material around the world ..
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#19I don’t think you can make a kite that can last a decade of load. We just don’t have materials strong enough. Also you need a sophisticated algorithm to fly it and never crash
Re: Flying kites deliver container-sized power generation
#20How is the kite raised initially and what happens when air stops, how is it re-raised?
Reading the article seems like it's pulled back if air is stopping, and slowly released based on air speed perhaps.