A critical assessment of Airborne Wind Energy Systems

This paper focuses on the different types design of Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) and their control architecture. The main focus of this paper will be on a novel lighter than air system developed by Altaeros Energies. AWES combines cutting edge innovation with practical engineering design to produce a system capable of rivalling conventional wind energy generation. Closed-form control strategies provide greater transparency and make tuning and debugging in realtime much easier. Control architecture of this type will be presented for the Altaeros system. This paper contributes to existing literature by focusing on the Altaeros design, discussing the relative advantages and disadvantages that this system holds over other airborne systems and conventional wind generation.