The some of the factors which make the generation of electricity from the wind expensive include, remoteness of suitable locations, the cost of building towers, the irregularity of the wind, local nimby objections to the construction of wind farms in suitable places, the cost of building power cables to remote high wind locations,the difficulty of servicing wind turbines which can be at great heights, the slow speed of wind speed requires much gearing match the speeds of modern alternators.High wind speed is useful as the power from the wind goes up with the cube of the velocity.

This invention is the tethering of wind turbine(s) to a high altitude balloon.

The balloon has a number features firstly the shape of the balloon is a taurus which acts as a funnel, concentrator or augmenter followed by an diffuser. One of the problems with augmented windmills is the cost of building the augmenter,(normally the same kind of stuff the blades are made of) in this design the augmenter is made from inflated fabric, which should make the cost more reasonable.

Operating like a balloon, the wind turbine is then rises to a great height, this as several effects,

Firstly the average wind speed is greater the higher you go( the wind is slowed by the drag of the land surface). The power of the wind goes up with the cube of the winds velocity .Higher speed rotation implies less need for gearing necessary to attach the rotor to a generator, which makes for a less expensive rotor assembly.

Secondly at very high levels jet streams can exist which would produce continuous high speed air flow. Ultra high wind generators might then exist in areas of near constant high speed wind. This would reduce one of the big complaints against wind generation.

At higher levels the pressure is also reduced, but the higher speeds permit the rotor blades to be smaller and rotate at higher speed.

Thirdly the cost of the 'tower' is now the cost of the cable necessary to hold the balloon down.

Fifthly maintained can be done at ground level by pulling the balloon down to ground level. By making the blades smaller, and reducing the size of the gearing less it might be possible to move the generator section for repair to a maintained station.

For ether normal or high altitude wind generators,
having a wind generator which is at a few thousand feet above the ground allows the generator to be situated at convenient points such as near traditional power stations rather than remote areas which might be areas of outstanding natural beauty. From the ground the wind generators would be practically invisible except for the navigation lights at night. This might be further enhanced by use of transparent envelopes - the US military is reported to have experimented with stealth airships which are invisible from the ground.

By not having to use locations where nature has 'focused' the wind the construction of wind generators are no longer limited to locations where high wind velocities are common. Higher wind velocities will still be more prevalent near the coasts but comparatively very high wind velocities will be available in land. High altitude wind generators then gives use the ability to locate in what would be regarded as 'unfavorable' sites.

This freedom of location would reduce the need to lay expensive power cables to remote areas, generators would be laid anywhere. This can be the main cost of a wind generator project. One small sight could service a number of generators at a number of heights.

The wind turbine would be raised by potentially three mechanisms firstly the lift caused by hydrogen filled balloon. We use hydrogen because its cheap and even if a balloon would ignite then there would be no loss of life. The balloon might also be shaped like an aero foil cross-section to provide for lift. Finally excess heat from the generator would be used to heat the envelope.

One effect which can occurred to wind generators is the approach of very strong winds (gales ) the high altitude wind generators would be in a constant near gale. In some conditions the wind could be less 'augmented' by bleeding wind past the generator. Finally the generator can always be lowered to the ground out of harms way.

This is roughly the situation - use a balloon like a world war 2 barrage balloon to lift a wind turbine up and use the balloon shape ( see below ) to augment the wind capture area.

The balloon shape acts as an 'augmenter'

• (a) the upper cell bag filled with hydrogen.
• (b) the smaller (1m) aero generator operating a highest speed
• (c) 'slow speed' wind entering augment

front ( winds eye view).

This view shows the multi cellular construction, if one cell leaks or is damaged the whole thing does not come down.