I should be banned from visiting energy tech sites...

skids

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Sun Jul-13-08 05:46 PM
Original message

I should be banned from visiting energy tech sites...

...because it seems when I check up on company sites, there is never any progress or news. It is only when I stop checking that they actually manage to do something.

Case in point, I totally missed this a few months ago:

http://magenn.com/about.php

...that's an actual photograph, not a cgi rendering this time, of the magenn inflatable wind generator prototype. They actually got it off the ground, and managed to generate 2kW, which is only 20% of what they eventually expect a unit of this size to generate, but hey, it's something.

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BlueJazz

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Sun Jul-13-08 05:48 PM
Response to Original message

1. You can tell where my mind is....I thought it was a Bra

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DaveJ

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Sun Jul-13-08 05:50 PM
Response to Original message

2. Nice. Is the hard part keeping it afloat?

Just wondering why it took 30 years to develop. Anyway that's wonderful.

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skids

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Sun Jul-13-08 05:56 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. They had to train the spiders...

Edited on Sun Jul-13-08 05:57 PM by skids

The whole thing is woven together by millions of trained spiders. :+

No seriously, I don't know what held it up. I think the hard part is probably the lightweight genset and stress analysis for providing torque.

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Dead_Parrot

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Sun Jul-13-08 10:16 PM
Response to Reply #3

8. Helium, it seems

http://magenn.com/technology.php

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stuntcat

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Sun Jul-13-08 07:35 PM
Response to Original message

4. It would be safer for birds and bats

maybe?

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skids

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Sun Jul-13-08 10:09 PM
Response to Reply #4

7. They might address that on the FAQ.

I imagine so. It's a big blob that doesn't move very fast. They'd fly around. How high to bats fly, BTW?

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stuntcat

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Sun Jul-13-08 10:22 PM
Response to Reply #7

9. probably not too high

not when they're looking for bugs, I don't know what they do when they migrate. Bat houses are usually mounted at least 15 feet up.

I've heard news at least once of bats being killed by windmills.. I only remember the story because I like bats, I don't even know where I heard it!

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kristopher

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Sun Jul-13-08 11:41 PM
Response to Reply #7

10. I believe the concept is to have it hover at high altitude

Edited on Sun Jul-13-08 11:42 PM by kristopher

I believe the power generating concept is to have it hover at high altitude in an area of high wind that simulates the forward velocity.

Here is one high altitude wind map (explanation at link):
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/maps/upa/3wndhgt.rxml

It looks like the link won't take here, you'll need to cut and paste into the browser.

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kristopher

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Sun Jul-13-08 08:10 PM
Response to Original message

5. How much does 15,000 to 30,000 feet of transmission cable weigh?

I am in love with the concept of high altitude wind, but I've never worked out how much a transmission cable weighs. The best winds are located between 15,000-30,000 feet.

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skids

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Sun Jul-13-08 10:08 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. depends on the power of the unit and the voltage used to transmit...

...I imagine if you had two spacially separated cables, there would be little need for them to be insulated past the first several hundred feet.

Crank that voltage up high enough you might be able to get away with a pretty thin wire.

Or you could laser it down.

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