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Wind-powered vehicles derive their power from sails, kites or rotors and ride on wheels—which may be linked to a wind-powered rotor—or runners. Whether powered by sail, kite or rotor, these vehicles share a common trait: As the vehicle increases in speed, the advancing airfoil encounters an increasing apparent wind at an angle of attack ...
The vehicle draws power from the faster of the two media in each case and imparts it to the slower of the two: upwind, drawing power from the wind and imparting it to the wheels and, downwind, drawing power from the wheels and imparting it to the rotor: in each case in proportion to the velocity of the medium, relative to the vehicle. [7]
The vehicle weighs about six hundred kilograms. [5] According to Jenkins, the light weight and aerodynamic shape of the vehicle allows it to attain speeds three to five times faster than the speed of the wind. [4] Greenbird is the fifth in a series of wind-powered land vehicles that Jenkins had constructed in his efforts to break the speed record.
The earliest text describing the Chinese use of mounting masts and sails on large vehicles is the Book of the Golden Hall Master written by the Daoist scholar and crown prince Xiao Yi, who later became Emperor Yuan of Liang (r. 552–554 AD). He wrote that Gaocang Wushu invented a "wind-driven carriage" which was able to carry thirty people at ...
Twenty-first century power supplies are lighter and more efficient. [8] [9] The first ion-propelled aircraft to take off and fly using its own onboard power supply was a VTOL craft developed by Ethan Krauss of Electron Air in 2006. [10]
Wind-powered land vehicles need an enormous clearance in height, especially when sails or kites are used and are unsuitable in urban area. They may be also be difficult to steer. Wind-powered vehicles are only used for recreational activities on beaches or other free areas. The concept is described in further detail here: .
The turbosail or French turbovoile is a marine propulsion system using a sail-like vertical surface and a powered boundary layer control system to improve lift across a wide angle of attack. This allows the sail to power the boat in any direction simply by moving a single flap at the back of the sail, unlike conventional sails which have to be ...
Crosswind kite power is power derived from airborne wind-energy conversion systems (AWECS, also AWES) or crosswind kite power systems (CWKPS). The kite system is characterized by energy-harvesting parts flying transversely to the direction of the ambient wind, i.e., to crosswind mode; sometimes the entire wing set and tether set are flown in crosswind mode.