English

On the Take-off of Airborne Wind Energy Systems Based on Rigid Wings

Optimization and Control 2015-10-23 v1 Systems and Control

Abstract

The problem of launching a tethered aircraft to be used for airborne wind energy generation is investigated. Exploiting well-assessed physical principles, an analysis of three different take-off approaches is carried out. The approaches are then compared on the basis of quantitative and qualitative criteria introduced to assess their technical and economic viability. Finally, a deeper study of the concept that is deemed the most viable one, i.e. a linear take-off maneuver combined with on-board propellers, is performed by means of numerical simulations. The latter are used to refine the initial analysis in terms of power required for take-off, and further confirm the viability of the approach.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1510.06701,
  title  = {On the Take-off of Airborne Wind Energy Systems Based on Rigid Wings},
  author = {Lorenzo Fagiano and Stephan Schnez},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1510.06701},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

This is the pre-print of a paper submitted for possible publication to the Elsevier journal "Energy". The authors are with ABB Switzerland Ltd., Corporate Research. Both authors contributed equally to this publication