It's a balloon that lifts a wind turbine.
That's the easiest way to describe the technology being
developed by , led by Ben Glass, inventor and
CEO of the young company. Glass has reimagined the
possibilities of balloon and airship technology to lift a wind
turbine.
Aiming high
Most wind turbine manufacturers are competing to build taller
turbines to harness more powerful winds above 500 feet, or
150 meters. Altaeros is going much higher with their novel
Buoyant Airborne Turbine--the BAT. The Altaeros BAT can
reach 2,000 feet, or 600 meters.
At this altitude, wind speeds are faster and have five to eight
times greater power density. As a result, the BAT can generate
more than twice the energy of a similarly rated tower-mounted
turbine.
The BAT's key enabling technologies include a novel
aerodynamic design, custom-made composite materials, and
an innovative control system. The helium-inflatable shell
channels wind through a lightweight wind turbine. The shell
self-stabilizes and produces aerodynamic lift, in addition to
buoyancy. Multiple high-strength tethers hold the BAT in place
and a single conductive tether transmits power to a mobile
ground station.
The BAT's automated control system ensures safe and
efficient operation, the highlight of which is the capability to
adjust altitude autonomously for optimal power output. The
first BAT model is approximately 15 by 15 meters, is
containerized, and does not require a crane or foundation for
installation.
Reaching customers
Diesel generators are the standard in power generation for
rural and off-grid areas. However, diesel fuel is expensive to
deliver to these locations, and diesel generators, though
inexpensive to install, are expensive to operate and maintain.
As a result, remote customers typically pay more than 30
cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity. The BAT has the
potential to bring affordable wind energy to these communities
and industries. The first model will provide enough electricity
for a small community, or about a dozen American homes.
Combined with significant increases in energy output and the
ability to install the unit in 24 hours, the BAT substantially
reduces the cost of energy and time to reach customers'
energy needs. In the future, Altaeros expects to deploy the
BAT alongside first responders in emergency response
situations when access to the electric grid is unavailable.
Much like other tethered balloons, the Altaeros BAT can lift
communication, Internet and sensory equipment alongside the
turbine to provide additional services for customers. The
addition of payload equipment does not affect the BAT's
performance.
Scaling up
Altaeros was founded in 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. The company has received NSF
(Phase I and Phase II) to
test a novel low-cost, high-performance fabric suitable for the
BAT's shell, and to develop its modular wind turbine for power
performance and ease of installation.
Altaeros recently received Series A funding of $7 million
dollars for the continued development and commercialization
of its technology.
"The new products being developed by the team at Altaeros
are exciting because they have the potential to offer a new
method for energy generation which is portable, reliable, quick
to deploy, and environmentally-friendly," said Ben Schrag, NSF
SBIR program director. "This technology has the potential to
avoid many of the key challenges facing traditional wind
turbines."
Investigators
Ben Glass
Source:
www.nsf.gov/discoveries.com
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