Wind Power From Kites

Professor David J. OlingerMechanical Engineering Dept.WPI

WPI's Fifth US-Africa Business Conference

WPI KITE POWER TEAM

Professor David J. Olinger

Dr. Jitendra Goela, Rohm and Haas Company, Woburn MA

Gabe Baldwin, Mike Blouin, Peter Bertoli, Ryan Buckley, Chris Colschen, Mike DeCuir, Max Hurgin, Ben Isabella, Taylor LaLonde, Erik Lovejoy, Josh Rodden, Mike Sangermano, Nick Simone, Nick Urko

2006-2008

Motivation & Goals Increased access to electricity, water, power in

developing nations must be provided in a sustainable way using renewable energy sources, such as wind power

Develop a new renewable energy technology: Wind Power from Kites

Build prototype capable of generating ~1KW

Wind Power from Kites Prototype

Converts up-and-down motion of kiteinto electricity that is stored in batteries

Animation - System Operation

Wind is from Left to Right

Olinger, D.J. & Goela, J.S. , “Performance Characteristics of a one-kilowatt scale kite power system, ASME Paper ES2008-54032, Energy Sustainability 2008, Jacksonville, FL August 2008.

Advantages of Kite Power for Developing Nations

Potentially cheaper than a wind turbine More economical in low wind speed

regions Higher wind speeds at higher altitudes Kites can fly “faster than the wind” –

apparent velocity effect

More aesthetically pleasing &environmentally friendly than wind turbines

Advantages for Developing Nations

Field Testing

WPI KITE POWER TEAM STUDENTS

Heifer International’s Overlook Farm – Rutland, MASeabrook, NH beaches

Wiki – WPI Kite Power Team

http://www2.me.wpi.edu/wpi-kitesLink in agenda on conference website

Other kite power researchers:WindLift, LLC http://windlift.wordpress.com/about/Makani Power, Inc. www.makanipower.com Jet stream winds

Conclusions Wind Power from Kites is a potential renewable

energy technology

WPI Kite Power Team has constructed a working kite power prototype

Many successes! Still work to do!

Feedback :Potential use in AfricaEducational/business linkages