Airborne Wind Energy

This reference offers an overview of the field of airborne wind energy. As the first book of its kind, it provides a consistent compilation of the fundamental theories, a compendium of current research and development activities as well as economic and regulatory aspects. In five parts, the book demonstrates the relevance of Airborne Wind Energy and the role that this emerging field of technology can play for the transition towards a renewable energy economy. Part I on "Fundamentals" contains seven general chapters explaining the principles of airborne wind energy and its different variants, of meteorology, the history of kites and financing strategies. Part II on "System Modeling, Optimization and Control" contains eight contributions that develop and use detailed dynamic models for simulation, optimization, and control of airborne wind energy systems, while Part III on "Analysis of Flexible Kite Dynamics" collects four chapters that focus on the particularly challenging simulation problems related to flexible kites. Part IV "Implemented Concepts" contains eleven contributions each of which presents developed prototypes together with real-world experimental results obtained with the different concepts. Finally, in Part V on "Component Design", five papers are collected that address in detail the technical challenges for some of the components of airborne wind energy.

Airborne Wind Energy presents all basics in a single source to someone starting to explore wind power in the upper atmosphere and serves as a valuable reference for researchers, scientists, professionals and students active in the innovative field of Airborne Wind Energy.

Uwe Ahrens graduated in Aerospace Engineering from Technical University Berlin. In 1989 he founded the medical company aap Implantate AG for which he acted as long-time CEO. Having established a patent basis for a rail-based Airborne Wind Energy conversion technology, Ahrens founded NTS Energy Systems in 2009. In 2012, the company successfully demonstrated the core functionality on a linear test section.

Moritz Diehl studied physics and mathematics at the universities of Heidelberg and Cambridge. In 2001, he received a PhD degree for his research on Real Time Optimization for Large Scale Nonlinear Processes, at the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) of Heidelberg University. Since 2006, Diehl is a professor at the Electrical Engineering Department (ESAT) of Leuven University. He is the Principal Investigator of the Optimization in Engineering Center (OPTEC) and of the ERC Project HIGHWIND. Diehl's research focus is on control and optimisation of nonlinear constrained systems, with a focus on Airborne Wind Energy applications.

Roland Schmehl graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Karlsruhe University. In 2003 he received a PhD degree for his research on computational modelling of multiphase flows and liquid droplet dynamics. Following a post-doctoral research fellowship at the European Space Agency (ESA), he worked as software architect for TNO Automotive Safety Solutions, developing fluid dynamic simulation methods for airbag deployment. In 2009, he accepted his current position as head of the kite power group at Delft University of Technology. Next to leading a pioneering development team, his research focus is on the computational modelling of inflatable membrane wings. Schmehl is associate professor at the faculty for Aerospace Engineering.