Makani Power Inc — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: The Makani Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) is a tethered UAV outfitted with turbines for power

Description

The Makani Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) is a tethered UAV outfitted with turbines for power generation. The AWT is materials efficient: the span of the wing is comparable in size to one blade of a similarly scaled conventional wind turbine and there is no tower, hub, nacelle or gearbox. The tensile-based design of the AWT further decreases mass by distributing aerodynamic forces across the wing using a bridle. The low mass of the system leads to low capital costs and decreased transportation costs. Makani Power will evaluate the feasibility of a containerized, mobile and rapidly deployable 30 kW AWT, the M30, by addressing three main concerns: Functional: show that both the M30 and its ground based infrastructure can be packaged into a single tricon container. Operational: investigate the AWT"s integration with radar and military flight operations. Economic: calculate the capital cost and cost of energy for the containerized M30 design. During the Phase I option, Makani will address components necessary for a demonstration prototype in Phase II. The primary objective of this project is to determine the suitability of the Makani AWT to forward operating bases.