We haven’t published our thoughts about the pivot yet. Also we are not completely sure that our flying wind turbines program will be completely shut down either. Right now we are focusing on getting ready for launching the crowdfunding campaign
Kitex have launched on Kickstarter
Good Luck Andreas & co.
Wow. Looks pretty cool and well thought out. Their inclusion of «kite» seems a bit exagerated though
It’s coming along.
The axis is pointed up a bit in real operation compared to the diagrams.
That’ll help reduce weight and maybe legitimize the “kite”
But it’s still gonna wobble and shake rigid parts with a focus…
With the dihedral the top blade will be full power while the lowers are much less.
reckon 4 ground tethers might be better on the tower
Looks pretty good, considering it is an AWE effort.
Reminds me of many beginner wind energy first attempts.
At some point, the realization of the importance of durability, storm survival, and overspeed protection might become apparent. At least it works! I like it.
Then again, I somehow just ended up watching the kickstarter video - ouch! “Windcatcher” - I’ve seen that name used more than once - ouch again! don’t think any effort using this name ever went anywhere, so far. Typical newbie stuff. Just recently an incurable, refuse-to-listen newbie even bought a related domain name and said it was “for me”. He wanted to concentrate on tiny one-inch turbines inside of tubes with holes, like a kids’ swing-set that would produce energy - ouch! The thing that got me in the video was it started right out saying they had eliminated the heaviest part - the tower - then showed it on a tower. Huh? Ouch! Typical guyed tower except they usually have 4 guy wires, although this tower was so small and light-duty I don’t suppose it matters much. Also, speaking of ouch, don’t believe everything you hear - some things are the opposite of what you think.
My spring-loaded dual-rotor firefly turbine has a better power-to-weight ratio than this and has been operating continuously for eight (8) years, with one blade change (wore out the first set due to dust abrasion) on a tower that is just a skinny little pole sticking up with no guy wires. It is grid-tie, and running right now in front of my house, as it has been for years. We’re in an extremely punishing high-wind location. Having said all that there are aspects of what I saw that I like, and have considered applying to some experiments myself. Overall though I see too many people, too much fanfare and hype, too much infrastructure and facilities, and too much money required, for not enough results. Seems like more effort went into their video than the machine itself. This could have been done out of a garage or living room with a few hundred dollars.
Pretty harsh viewpoint @dougselsam
I reckon KiteX brought this device along rapidly.
Considering all the great & wild and bad wind power design the world has tried… It’s progress just to find a novel workable one.
That’s not a waste of resource (if we learn at least)
I’ll bet that shed they use is recycled and used to be a hangar for a more expensive failed project.
On a side note
Is this the dual rotor firefly?
http://www.speakerfactory.net/ordertwin.htm
That superturbine is nice. It seems KiteX is aiming for the «outside home» market while the superturbines are more permanent installations. This could be mostly a marketing thing rather than the build itself.
Superturbine $3000 for 2 kW at 13-14 m/s
The KiteX is 600 W at approx 8 m/s. Retail price $2070.
At <8 m/s the two turbines seem to produce the same amount of power.
So the choice boils down to:
- will you bring it in your camper
- do you expect high winds > 8 m/s
- can you afford the extra $1000 for the superturbine
- maintenance costs
- survival in higher winds
I think a lot of people would go for either…
Still running after 8 years in the same winds that blow roofs off houses.
Yeah I didn’t mean to sound harsh. Sorry I’m still used to conversations with seasoned wind people who are not that impressed with achieving rotation, but are more concerned with reliable machines that hang in there through severe weather. It’s the wind that’s harsh. It’s all about the wind, not so much what people say. If I sound harsh, it is because we’re talking about a harsh challenge: surviving harsh winds. I still like many aspects of the machine.
Tallak: You’re looking at an early prototype that would likely be destroyed in the first strong wind, versus a machine a little further along in the development curve after burning out probably 20+ generators before slowly achieving reliability and survivability. I’m still not satisfied - it is never “good enough”, always a work in progress. Always room for improvement.
My turn to be harsh
Not that one…
It’s by the sea (like me)
And the cable would have wrapped
And it woulda got all salty n rusty like me too
The blade lines are connected to the respective vertices of the triangle on the main gear. Said lines can be a mean to relieve the structure of the rotor and allow its weight reduction. In the absence of wind, the blade rods ensure a minimum of rigidity. So perhaps that can lead to interesting innovations for rotary AWES.
Indeed for this windmill, it takes even more time, if a reliable realization is even possible. However, this goes in line with some means for AWES, although it is not a new solution as such excepted for some details.
Anyway, that is the little firefly. Running outside right now, as usual. Grid-tied. Installed by some interns in my front yard years ago when I was well-known. The cable comes up through the support pole so it can’t wrap. But yes, being anywhere near salt water is very hard on windmills or anything else. I remember living on Balboa island and bought a nice Yamaha motorcycle. Rusty within two months, and we were on a bay, not even in view of the surf. Breaking waves generate a spray that will travel pretty far and ruin anything metal left outdoors. One of the main uses for small wind turbines has always been on yachts. I can’t imagine trying to keep one running in that environment. No matter what you do, you are going to have corrosion. Of course with solar being so cheap now, all those companies went out out of business. One of the main ones I am thinking of is Ampair out of the UK. OK looks like the company changed hands and now does underwater propellers(?). I think their windmill had six stubby plastic blades. Anyway it was the standard for many years. Looks like some cheap Chinese turbines using the name now. Just found this pic of the old one, rated at 100 Watts. Probably enough to read by in a pinch. This pic is from the following article from 2011 announcing 8 new jobs, obviously before solar got cheap. Wow how things change!
If the tower is removed and if the turbine is tilted one obtains something like the device on the figure 2:
Here the blades are flexible instead of being rigid.
First time I see this post. Our marketing guy, working on the kickstarter campaign found it Been quite some time since I surfed this forum.
@PierreB There is prior art that’s fairly close to the turbine we are making. WO2015171347A1 - A structurally optimized tilted or horizontal axis wind turbine - Google Patents Do any of you actually know [Leonid Goldstein]?(Google Patents). Would be fun to talk with him.
The inspiration to the current turbine came from the dancing kite concept, just with a “bit” more stability added.
@Rodread I have also looked a fair amount on your videos. Just send me a PM if you have specific questions, would be happy to help.
The mechanical design we end up with on Kickstarter will eventually be open sourced, so you don’t even have to buy one to inspect it. If you are curious about our project you could back it on Kickstarter for a insignificant amount. Would be happy to have some AWE people in the crowd and I believe every dollar might help get more exposure with the Kickstarter algorithm
Hi @aokholm and welcome to the forum.
I know some Leonid Goldstein patents whose the one below which is cited (A, fortunately not X or Y) in the search report of my last patent (FR3034473A1).
The patent you indicate is available on:
The more I analyze your turbine, the more I see interesting features: to sum up it would be an AWES (and maybe also a HAWT), but without the drawbacks.
Congrats on your campaign and best if luck. Curious question: do you have some thoughts on scaling, and how far the design could scale?
Have you tried combining the system with a lifter kite?