Makani Power Wind Turbine UAS flights

Makani Power is developing Airborne Wind Turbines (AWT) to extract energy from the powerful, consistent winds at high altitudes. Makani’s AWT is a rigid wing that flies at altitudes between 300 and 600 meters. Turbines on the leading edge of the wing face into the wind as it flies and generate energy, which is transmitted to the ground along a tether. Makani AWTs will produce energy at an unsubsidized real cost competitive with coal-fired power plants, the current benchmark of the lowest cost source of power.

The subcomponents of Makani’s 10 kW Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) prototype. The wing flies in circles navigated by the autonomous controllers running on state of the art avionics system. Power is extracted by wing mounted rotors by slowing the wing down. Generated power is transmitted down the tether to the ground station. The bank of lights on the ground station is illuminated to dissipate excess power.