Flying power station? Engineers at Makani Power achieved just that, by designing their “Wing 7” prototype which generate 20 Kw (Kilowatt) just by flying in the sky.
Wing 7 consist of functionality & looks of a helicopter, airplane, kite & a robot which has designed to tap winds generally blows above 1000 to 1500 feet where standard land based wind turbines can’t reach.
At these altitudes winds blows almost consistantly at a predictable speeds, so Wing 7’s placement gurantees continious supply of power. From a base station Wing 7 can takes off vertically by powering up it’s rotors (rotors also can beswitched to function as turbines) & once it’s reach the appropriate altitude it start rotates into horizontal flight and flies in swooping circles.
Wing 7 epquiped with tubines on it’s easch wings which generate electricity & transmit to ground via connecting tether to the base station.
Win 7 just weighing about 59 Kg (kilograms) & end to end wing span is 8.5 M (meters). It’s Carbon Fiber enforced Wings Generates 20 Kw of power at 22 MPH (miles per hour) winds speed & it’s rotors which are also Carbon Fiber enforced
sping at 4000 RPM (revolutions per minute). Wing 7 in flight stabilizer support 90 degree rotation from verticle take off to horizontal flight & it’s wing’s avionics and electronics are securely fitted into motor pylons.
With the backing of DARPA (Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency) & Google founders (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) Makani Power plans to develop a 1 MW (megawatt) prototye by 2013 which can harness winds above 1800 feet altitute.
Information Source: Makani Power