WIND TO FLY A KITE

Harness the wind: Energy kite set to launch early next year

Bret Yager, October 5, 2015 (Hawaii Tribune Herald)

"Before [an experimental 600 kW energy kite] can begin spinning 1,100 feet above the ground [in Hawaii in 2016], the Google-owned development company behind the initiative must receive clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration and a building permit from Hawaii County…[Representatives of Makani hope a year of testing will get them closer to] a commercially viable product that is up to 50 percent more efficient at generating electricity than a conventional wind turbine…The 85-foot airfoil with eight wind generation rotors — and the 50-foot tower from which it will be launched and controlled — is essentially finished…The device loops in the sky at the end of a…[1,400-foot carbon fiber tether attached to a giant drum used to reel the kite in and out. The kite mimics] the most energy efficient part of a conventional wind turbine blade — the tip — without the need for the massive concrete, steel and fiberglass infrastructure of a conventional windmill…The top of the kite’s loop will reach twice the height of a conventional turbine…When the winds die, electricity can be reversed back up the tether to the rotors, which will then spin to control the craft’s descent…” click here for more

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