Go fly a kite

Dutch scientists fly kites to generate electricity.

By Consulting Specifying Engineer Staff August 4, 2008

A team of scientists from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have harnessed energy from the wind by doing what kids do best—flying kites. By flying a 10-sq. meter kite tethered to a generator, they are producing up to 10 kW of power.

The experiment generated enough electricity to power 10 family homes, and the researchers have plans to test a 50-kW version of their invention, called Laddermill, eventually building up to a proposed version with multiple kites that they claim could generate 100 mW, enough for 100,000 homes.

Read the full story in the Guardian .