I had similar questions about the tethers and how strongly they are attached, given the fact that winds are also stronger at the higher elevations this is designed to operate in.
I guess my question is as a high-altitude lightening rod, can the tether handle the current? Heavy-duty ground wire would be a lot of additional weight. The tether is already handling the power generated. And can the ground power receiver distinguish between the two without catastrophe?
The mass grows as the cube of the diameter. Given that this is a LTAV, doubling the diameter would make it 8 times lighter! e.g., 1 ton of displacement may become 8 tonnes.
To Ironhorse- I am afraid I mixed several things together. One was the comment about a 40 ton weight in the air. Second was maintenance cost of a larger commercial device. Third was the value of the output of the large windmills not being adequate to support the maintenance. For small job sites or multiple-family areas the smaller unit refered to in the article could be a real blessing. I assume maintenance would be minimal, although this might not be a reality until the second or third generation.
Warren, the target production model is 100kW, which is on the order of the oil energy output of one of the common stripper wells, which are decidedly non-mobile and require a significant logistical chain from rock to generator. You did observe that the target market is mobile and remote sites?
Cell tower? I was thinking Wi-Fi for all..... Don't you love innovation? Well it's nice to look at. I would worry about this project though. I would hate to have this thing land on my roof, because strong winds tore it of the tether.
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