High Altitude Wind Energy Generation Using Controlled Power Kites
- 30 June 2009
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology
- Vol. 18 (2), 279-293
- https://doi.org/10.1109/tcst.2009.2017933
Abstract
This paper presents simulation and experimental results regarding a new class of wind energy generators, denoted as KiteGen, which employ power kites to capture high altitude wind power. A realistic kite model, which includes the kite aerodynamic characteristics and the effects of line weight and drag forces, is used to describe the system dynamics. Nonlinear model predictive control techniques, together with an efficient implementation based on set membership function approximation theory, are employed to maximize the energy obtained by KiteGen, while satisfying input and state constraints. Two different kinds of KiteGen are investigated through numerical simulations, the yo-yo configuration and the carousel configuration, respectively. For each configuration, a generator with the same kite and nominal wind characteristics is considered. A novel control strategy for the carousel configuration, with respect to previous works, is also introduced. The simulation results show that the power generation potentials of the yo-yo and carousel configurations are very similar. Thus, the choice between these two configurations for further development of a medium-to-large scale generator will be made on the basis of technical implementation problems and of other indexes like construction costs and generated power density with respect to land occupation. Experimental data, collected using the small-scale KiteGen prototype built at Politecnico di Torino, are compared to simulation results. The good matching between simulation and real measured data increases the confidence with the presented simulation results, which show that energy generation with controlled power kites can represent a quantum leap in wind power technology, promising to obtain renewable energy from a source largely available almost everywhere, with production costs lower than those of fossil sources.Keywords
This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit:
- KiteGen: A revolution in wind energy generationEnergy, 2009
- Set Membership approximation theory for fast implementation of Model Predictive Control lawsAutomatica, 2009
- Optimal Crosswind Towing and Power Generation with Tethered KitesJournal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2008
- On the use of approximated predictive control laws for nonlinear systemsPublished by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ,2008
- Power Kites for Wind Energy Generation [Applications of Control]IEEE Control Systems, 2007
- To Capture the WindIEEE Power and Energy Magazine, 2007
- Nonlinear MPC of kites under varying wind conditions for a new class of large‐scale wind power generatorsInternational Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, 2007
- Control of tethered airfoils for a new class of wind energy generatorPublished by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ,2006
- Evaluation of global wind powerJournal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2005
- Constrained model predictive control: Stability and optimalityAutomatica, 2000