Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Air-borne wind turbines

When we talk about wind turbines most of us think big tall white fan. And for the most part we are right...but what about floating turbines? A company named Sky Windpower has proposed a solution that they estimate could provide power to users at prices as low as $0.01KWh.

This solution utilizes high altitudes, where the wind supply is almost constant, by sending (at least partially bouyant) turbines up into the air and collecting their power through conductive tethering lines or other more "wireless" means. I dont know about you but I wouldnt want a floating balloon in my backyard any more than I want a 75 foot tall wind tower, but this could definitely be a viable solution for large wind farms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_wind_turbine

No comments:

Post a Comment