Our Idea…Build A Better Wind Turbine

Airbine™ is an Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT).  Our type of AWT is Aerostat-based so that it is held up in the air all the time, (an Aerostat is like a helium balloon on a string). An Airbine array is made up of individual lighter than air platforms, these platforms are called modules.  Each module contains one or more electricity-producing wind turbines.  Modules are stacked, (with proper spacing in between to reduce turbulence) so that they perform like stacked kites.  Stacked kites are many kites on a single or multiple strings. Think of Airbine as a “Wind Farm On A String”.

What Makes Airbine™ A Better Solution

Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) is the popular term for what is in rapid growth right now in Europe.  AWE systems are typically designed with either a flexible or a rigid wing.  Flexible wing AWEs typically use a kite or a parawing to create the movement that turns an Electrical Generator on the ground.  Rigid wing AWEs can mount the wind turbine on the wing or on the ground.  The ones that mount the turbine on the wing would be considered Airborne Wind Turbines (AWT).

AWTs are more efficient in the production of electricity.  AWTs place the turbines where the wind is strong and continuous, 1000 to 30,000 ft above sea level.

Ground-based wind farms have several problems associated with them.

  1. Finding a location with sufficient wind to be able to produce consistent energy, there are very few places where the wind blows all of the time on the ground.   Airbine arrays are located where the wind is powerful and consistent 24/7, at 1000 above ground level.  This wind research has been proven and documented by the US government since the 1940s. AWTs utilize this research extensively.  See our section on Goddard Library for details.
  2. Ground based wind farms produce a lot of noise.  Airbine is nowhere near as noisy.
  3. Ground based wind farms have bird strikes.  Most birds fly at under 1500 feet above the ground, so Airbine would have fewer bird strikes.
  4. Ground based wind farms take up a lot of acreage, OWOE says 2 to 40 acres per megawatt (MW).  For a 100 MW ground based wind farm that’s200 to 4,000 acres.  Airbine can put a 100 MW wind farm on 10 acres.
  5. Ground based wind turbines are getting bigger and bigger to increase their efficiency, the turbine blades are so big they are almost impossible to move to the build location.  Airbine can function like an airship and fly into position.
  6. Wind farms take years to build.  Airbine can be moved into place and can go from start to finish in days instead of years.
  7. Large wind turbine blades are difficult to recycle, they’re huge and there isn’t a big market for used fiberglass.  Airbine is mostly thin plastics, cables, and aluminum struts, easy to recycle and there is a market for it.

OTHER ADVANTAGES OF AIRBINE

  •   An Airbine Array is less massive than a ground based wind farm.  By reducing the amount/mass of materials used per megawatt produced, you get a better ROI. The blades are smaller and spin faster so the need for a large gearbox can be eliminated. Not only are the blades smaller, the whole structure can be made less massive. Many people don’t realize how strong we built ground-based wind turbines, they have to be able to stand rigidly into the wind.
  •  Airbine can be air transported to the build site.  Our central fabrication facility fully assembles an Airbine array and our Air-Tug maneuvers it to the Base Station location.   No roads needed.
  •  Airbine brings inexpensive energy to rural and remote sites without costly infrastructure. For example, island nations, remote mines sites, and other isolated communities that are reliant on fuel oil to run generators.  Hawaii burns a huge amount of oil for it’s electricity.
  •  Since our projected ROI on Airbine is better than ground based turbines it means a more financially viable solution!
  •  Greater/Consistent Wind Gives Us Continuously Reliable Wind Energy And That Equals Green Energy!

Our AWT design is scalable with need.  They can be the size of an RV or the size of several football fields. And the structure doesn’t have to be made from the latest most expensive Aerospace materials. Being constructed from thin films, struts, guy wires, and gas greatly reduces the materials and expense.

Future Development Possibilities

  •   High altitude telecommunications platforms.
  •   Observation platforms for firefighters, police, and Security.
  •   High altitude launch platforms to reduce the cost of space flight, we think we can send packages to orbit cheaper than Elon Musk.  Go look at Spin Launch and fund us the same, we’ll do it better.