A rigid kite for airborne wind energy (AWE), also called a rigid-wing or fixed-wing airborne wind energy system, is a tethered, aircraft-like wing that is flown autonomously in fast crosswind loops or figure-of-eight patterns to harvest wind energy at altitudes that are generally inaccessible to conventional tower-mounted wind turbines at fraction of total material usage. Unlike soft-wing (fabric) kites, rigid kites are built from stiff materials such as fibre-reinforced composites. The rigid construction gives them substantially higher lift-to-drag ratios than soft wings, allows precise aerodynamic control using conventional control surfaces, and makes it possible to mount wind turbines directly on the wing. The theoretical basis for crosswind power generation was established by Miles L. Loyd, who showed in 1980 that a tethered wing flying crosswind can generate far more power than a wing held stationary in the wind: because the wing's airspeed greatly exceeds the ambient wind speed, the aerodynamic force it produces is comparatively very large. In Loyd's idealized analysis the available power grows with the cube of the wind speed and with the square of the wing's lift-to-drag ratio, which strongly favours aerodynamically efficient rigid wings.
Wind
Rigid kite (airborne wind energy)
A rigid kite for airborne wind energy (AWE), also called a rigid-wing or fixed-wing airborne wind energy system, is a tethered, aircraft-like wing that is flown autonomously in fast crosswind loops or figure-of-eight patterns to harvest wind energy at altitudes that are generally inaccessible to conventional tower-mounted wind turbines at fraction of total material usage. Unlike soft-wing (fabric) kites, rigid kites are built from stiff materials such as fibre-reinforced composites. The rigid construction gives them substantially higher lift-to-drag ratios than soft wings, allows precise aerodynamic control using conventional control surfaces, and makes it possible to mount wind turbines directly on the wing. The theoretical basis for crosswind power generation was established by Miles L. Loyd, who showed in 1980 that a tethered wing flying crosswind can generate far more power than a wing held stationary in the wind: because the wing's airspeed greatly exceeds the ambient wind speed, the aerodynamic force it produces is comparatively very large. In Loyd's idealized analysis the available power grows with the cube of the wind speed and with the square of the wing's lift-to-drag ratio, which strongly favours aerodynamically efficient rigid wings.
