A Radical Approach Towards Energy Harnessing From The Wind

Among all our natural resources, wind is the most locale and easiest find resources that is infinitely abundant in nature and has the ability to produce energy, that power our household and industries for a long time to come. It even leaves behind the prospect of nuclear energy.

There have been numerous attempts to harness energy from nature’s best natural resources and so far, windmills are the only devices that are capable extracting energy from wind. However, these huge machines cannot be installed on every terrain, for example in an urban environment.

Now, an Italian firm known as KiteGen has announced an all new radical solution to the problem, with an ingenious design for the power generators. The KiteGen power generators are equipped with kite shaped airfoils, that are hoisted into the upper atmosphere, somewhere around 800 meters above the surface, where the wind speed is far higher than the ground. Then these tethered kites are withdrawn, all the harvesting energy gathered from the wind.

The kites, that will be flown on a pre-determined flight plan will be controlled and monitored by The KSU (Kite Steering Unit), a ground unit that is responsible for the proper functioning of the kites, the tethers and the harnessing of power. These power collection kites are built with aerial sensors in them, that allows the KSU to change their positions and flight plans according to the needs and conditions.

Kite Gen 1 A Radical Approach Towards Energy Harnessing From The Wind

KitGen after successfully completing its test runs with the power generators in the year 2006, is now well on the way to install a fully operational power unit in Asti, Italy. The maximum capacity of this power generator is 3 MW and is expected to be operational by the end of this year.