To effectively gather electricity from wind power, you need a strong breeze going. Along those lines, a company called KiteGen Research figures that wind currents only get strong the higher you go — so why not just go up to 2,600 feet?
It kind of comes off as an idea you'd see in a Pixar movie — or even straight out of a child's mind — but KiteGen has been using 200-foot-square kites hovering at 2,600 feet in the air to generate electricity, according to Popular Science: "As the kite's tether unspools, it spins an alternator that generates up to 40 kilowatts. Once the kite reaches its peak altitude, it collapses, and motors quickly reel it back in to restart the cycle."
KiteGen has plans to expand its scope and test a 1,500-square-foot kite by 2011, which — if all goes well — the company hopes could generate enough to keep 9,000 homes powered.
