The technology of Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) aims to develop new systems that operate to harvest strong wind power at several hundred meters above ground level. At that altitude, wind currents are stronger and much more consistent than those close to the ground. For the installation of the wind power system at that elevation, a buoyant gas aerostat is used to carry an electrical generator which hovers in the sky with a cable-tether connection to the earth. The AWE initiative at Zarawind (spin-off at the school of engineering at ZHAW, Zürich University of Applied Sciences), aims to develop a new Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) Wind Power Turbine for the harvesting of the high-altitude strong-wind power. The system is compact, cost-effective and eco-friendly to be used in remote off-grid locations. Research works are conducted on the development of the rotor part of the system through numerical simulations, wind tunnel experiments and blade material tests. Compared to classical rotors, the new rotor concept has been shown insuring a power performance at very low weight-to-swept-area ratio. Moreover, the material tests have shown a promising ability of the blades to stand for cyclic fatigue wind loading under weathering conditions.
