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Brazil Is Rapidly Advancing In Renewable Energy Solutions. This Time, Brazilian Engineers Are Developing A Portable Wind Power Generator That Is Cheaper And Has Superior Performance To Existing Market Competitors
A team of engineers is developing a prototype of a wind power generator never seen before in Brazil, which has been named Airborne Wind Energy (AWE). Engineers Leonardo Papais and Roberto Crepaldi, graduates of the Polytechnic School of USP, have been involved in the UFSCkite project since June of this year, conducted at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, which has been researching this type of technology since 2012. In addition to the two engineers and scientists, the wind power generator project also includes professors Marcelo De Lellis and Alexandre Trofino from UFSC.
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The equipment consists of two parts, a flight unit, which is attached to the sail, and a ground unit. The two are connected by a cable, which is pulled by the sail as it is propelled by the wind. Guided by the motors of the flight unit, the wind power generator made by the scientists flies in a figure-eight pattern until the cable reaches its limit. After that, the unit is pulled back, and the cycle repeats.
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According to one of the engineers graduated from USP, since the energy used by the ground unit’s motor to pull the cable back is only a fraction of the wind energy produced, each cycle ends up accumulating even more energy than it consumes.
The main differentiator of the wind power generator developed by the engineers from USP, compared to other conventional turbines, is that it uses only a fraction of the materials and can reach heights where the wind is more consistent and strong. While the average height of a wind turbine is 120 meters, the new wind power generator reaches around 600 to 800 meters while being much smaller, making it easily transportable and significantly cheaper, less spacious, and more powerful.
Engineers Graduated from USP Aim for A Functional Prototype by The End of 2021
More recent versions of this technology are already being tested by European companies such as Skysails Power and Kitepower. Leonardo and Roberto have contacted and held meetings with these companies during preliminary assessments of the viability of bringing the wind power generator project to Brazil.
The group of scientists plans to have a functional prototype by the end of 2021, with which they seek to obtain investment to start a new company, expanding the tests and developing a model that may enter the market in the future.
The specificities of transitioning the project from the university where it was developed to the private initiative will still be discussed with UFSC in the future, according to one of the scientists.
Portable Wind Energy Projects Are Growing In The Renewable Market
Besides this project, which seeks greater mobility, a Canadian company has developed a wind turbine that can fit inside a backpack and weighs only 1.3 kg.
The wind turbine called Shine Turbine aims to serve travelers and even nomads. The model has a low capacity of 40 Watts and will be used to charge devices such as phones, laptops, lanterns, and others.
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