NASA Engineers develop a new, more efficient airborne wind-power system

Benjamin Franklin uncovered ground-breaking facts about the nature of electricity and lightening by flying a kite in 1752. Two and half centuries hence, NASA is using the lowly kite yet again albeit this time the purpose of the experiment is to change the way the world approaches wind turbines and sustainable energy generation.

Wind-borne power systems may not yet be viewed with the same level of trust as land-based tower-like wind turbines but they may just prove to be just the viable and ingenious alternative that can bring wind energy to the masses.

Airborne wind-power system developed by NASA Engineers
Engineers at NASA are currently hard at work trying to develop the model which explores two facets of the technology. The first is a generator based on the ground which the kite is tethered to and is powered by the reeling motion of the kite as it is activated by the wind. The other part of the project focuses on generating electricity via a set of turbines built into the kite itself.

During the reeling phase, the wind-borne wind power system uses 10 percent lesser energy which makes the model almost 90 percent effective. The model generates more electricity when wind turbine blades are further from its hub and spin faster offer further advantage to the airborne system over the land-based systems. To allow the kites to maintain their orientation and speed, the system comes with a Microsoft Kinect-like pattern recognition software that also helps establish the situation of the kite. The kite is maintained in a figure-eight flying pattern by a flight-control system.

At the moment, NASA is working on a prototype in which the kite will have a wingspan of over 10 feet. The agency is also seeking permission to test the prototype airborne wind-power system at an altitude of 2,000 feet above sea level which is supposed to be the right elevation for such systems. If perfected, the technology would not only provide clean power to people on the planet but perhaps also to human settlers and exploration probes on Mars and other planets in the solar system.


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Efficient driving tips

Tips for an efficient function (source: dgt.es)
1. Monthly check tires are correct pressure. A less than adequate pressure can increase fuel consumption by up to 4%.

2 Check the luggage. The transport of every 100 kilos of weight spends 6% more fuel.

3. It is preferable to use long marches, respecting speed limits, and maintain the safety distance to avoid stepping, accelerations and unnecessary consumption.

4 Boot without stepping on the Accelerator.

5.-Keep, wherever possible, a uniform speed. Driving at high speeds increases fuel consumption. Car manufacturers make calculations on fuel consumption of your vehicles at 90 km/h, speed to less consumption occurs. In contrast to 120 km/h is consumed 30% more.

6.Air conditioning or window? At 25 degrees, air conditioning increases 12% fuel consumption. In town, at low speeds, open the window is more efficient than using air conditioning. On the road, on the other hand, when we drive faster, opposite.

In addition to these tips, it is important to note the specific maintenance conditions of our vehicle, for example, periodically checking the levels of oil. When we stop for more than one minute, it is also advisable to turn off the engine and start the March nothing more turn it, given that modern vehicles are designed to be more efficient when the driver starts the March swims mas start the car.

Drive gently, without abrupt changes in speed, is also of vital importance, not only for the environment, for our security. And finally why not share the car to go to work or in their spare time? It will help to reduce traffic and of course, drinking his fuel and the person with whom to share vehicle.

In short, there are many advantages of efficient driving, starting with the evident saving of fuel, so important today with the rise in fuel prices. In addition, the responsible use of the vehicle reduces pollution, both acoustic as CO2. On the other hand we increase Security in driving and cut the costs of maintenance of our car (clutch, gearbox, frenado…)

Currently these efficient driving techniques are increasingly considered to be of utmost importance and they are already being introduced in education for the driving licence, as well as expert driver training courses.

Solar cells cheaper and more efficient with low-quality Silicon

We told you of a new line of innovation in manufacturing of photovoltaic solar cells seems to reach one of the most important objectives for future of solar energy approach: increase efficiency and reduce the cost of the electricity generation.

Singapore researchers have taken advantage of the advanced technology that has developed in the creation of nanostructures to make a highly efficient Silicon cell and still cheaper. With this development, the researchers hope that the cost of solar energy can be reduced by half, which could certainly mean the opening of the renewable to millions of people in the world.

This development was carried out jointly by the University of technology of Nanyang (NTU) and the to * STAR Institute of microelectronics (IME). These new thin film solar cells using Silicon low-quality, a cheaper material, allowing a low final price. Exceptional for his invention is that they have found a technique which can generate electricity flows similar to those produced by traditional solar cells that contain such expensive high quality Silicon.

The new nano-estructuradas solar cells NTU-A * STAR can produce a stream of (34.3mA/cm2) - a world record for a solar cell of Silicon of class. This is possible through the creation of a unique texture using nanostructures on the surface of the solar cell, which are thousands of times smaller than a human hair.
To compare the resulting electrical current with the results of other types of solar cells, we can see it quite close to the traditional cells which is 40mA/cm2. While the conventional solar thin film cells typically produce about half of this stream.

The adoption of solar energy worldwide is hampered in large part by the high cost of traditional solar panels , and this is because they are made with high quality Silicon. To rectify this, has been used - as you had above - to low-quality amorphous silicon , a thin film has no texture-- which is 100 times thinner. However this material - is its natural form - is not as effective to convert sunlight into electricity, so it produces less energy.

The developed method is then to create a unique texture on the surface of amorphous, Silicon using nanostructures and thus improves the efficiency of conversion of energy (PCE) of thin film silicon cell and therefore increases the production of energy.
More about high efficiency solar cells:
Solar energy could have its future in the colder regions of the planet
Solar cells with efficiency of 45 %
High efficiency solar cells
A Virus improves the efficiency of solar cells
Solar Cell film fine record of 28.2% efficiency




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Wind energy | Vertical axis turbines 10 times more efficient than the traditional

The study has been developed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and it has carried out a study of single field so far, in a wind park pilot of two hectares located in the North of Los Angeles. In this park are installed 24 turbines of vertical axis (vertical-axis wind turbines or VAWTs) 10 meters high and 1.2 meters wide.

Despite improvements in the design of the wind turbines that have increased their efficiency, wind farms are still quite inefficient. According to Dabiri - director of research - this can be resolved with a proper installation of the turbines.
The modern wind farms usually employ horizontal axis turbines (horizontal-axis wind turbines or HAWTs), the most famous, with their typical format of a high tower with a propeller that rotate slowly.
These holdings, the turbines individual must be widely separated between themselves. Not just enough so that their giant blades do not touch, but much more, since the wake of wind generated may interfere the aerodynamics of the neighboring turbines. This great distance implies a greater amount of land and therefore more investment.

There have been - it says - a tendency to try to compensate for this loss of energy making larger propellers and the more high towers, to absorb the energy of the wind at higher altitudes, there where bursts are more powerful. But this brings other problems, such as higher costs, more complex engineering problems and a greater environmental impact.

Models for HAWTs and VAWTs
The solution, says Dabiri, is to focus on the design of the wind farm itself, to maximise efficiency in the Heights close to the ground. To this end the turbines VAWTs (vertical axis) are ideal, since that can be placed very close to each other. This allows them to capture nearly all of the energy of the wind.

You have each turbine rotating in the opposite direction to its neighbors, also enhances its effectiveness. As explained, this decreases the friction allowing the turbine to spin faster.

In field tests conducted during the summer of 2010, Dabiri and his colleagues measured the speed and the power generated by each of the six turbines, placing them in a number of different configurations. This was done by leaving a turbine in a fixed position while the other had a system of portable site that allowed that they were displaced.

Tests showed that when the you turbines were placed spaced between Yes by a distance of approximately 5 meters (equivalent to 4 diameters of the turbine) was removed entirely interference aerodynamics between neighboring turbines. In comparison, the Elimination of aerodynamic interference between the largest currently in use horizontal axis turbines require a space of about 20 diameters of distance (more than one mile).
The six vertical axis turbines (VAWTs) generated between 21 to 47 Watts of power per square meter of land. While a comparable size farm consisting of horizontal axis (HAWT) turbines were generated as little as 2 to 3 Watts per square meter.





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Efficient appliances

To save energy and protect the environment, change begins at home, and a way of doing this is through efficient appliances, which consume much less and provide superior returns, so if we are required to perform a change of household appliances, suitable choose these appliances, which are usually marked with the Energy Star logo.

An example course are the refrigerators, which can consume much energy, and one on the energy star label uses at least 20% Energy Starque one conventional, which is not little say.
Energy Star has guidelines for almost all the Energy Star, which is why if we are concerned about energy consumption, always we can find something to do in this regard.
From its Energy Starpodremos access to more information about carried out classifications and can also find a Energy Starpara as refrigerators, Energy Stary devices other.