The motor arm that starts it spinning becomes the generator once the kite picks up enough energy to turn it itself.
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brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum, Sat 1 Jun 2024, 21:38,
Reply)
Energy comes from being pulled away from the truck by the wind…
…then winding it back as it drops, which takes less energy so a net gain.
The boom moving around has nothing to do with generating power as far I can tell from the site; it launches the kite the same way that you might run into the wind pulling a toy kite behind you.
Interesting, but for me it’s about using less material than a normal turbine. Damn them for putting a full screen video on autoplay halfway down the page though.
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jonbob loves you, Sat 1 Jun 2024, 22:35,
Reply)
It's an unpowered electric motor being turned, so it is certainly generating electricity.
I would guess it's the main generator (being the largest motor) and the line length stuff is about maintaining kinetic energy..?
I can see it being useful for ships at sea. I can imagine similar principles being used for far future megastructures/space ships to take advantage of cosmic wind and magnetic field differentials across huge distances. The tether is the problem there though... I wonder if the whole thing can be done with magnetic fields like a Bussard ram scoop....
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brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum, Sun 2 Jun 2024, 21:58,
Reply)