Abstract
<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> The power equations of crosswind Ground-Gen and Fly-Gen airborne wind energy systems (AWESs) flying circular trajectories are refined to include the contribution from the aerodynamic wake, modelled with vortex methods. This allows to understand the effect of changing turning radius, wing geometry and aerodynamic coefficients on the aerodynamic power production. A novel power coefficient is defined by normalizing the aerodynamic power with the wind power passing through a disc with radius equal to the AWES wing span. The aspect ratio which maximizes this power coefficient (i.e. which maximizes the aerodynamic power for a given wing span) is finite and its analytical expression for an infinite turning radius is derived. By considering the optimal wing aspect ratio, the maximum power coefficient is found and its analytical expression for an infinite turning radius is derived. Ground-Gen and Fly-Gen AWESs, with the same geometry, are compared in terms of power production and three AWESs from literature are analyzed. Ground-Gen have lower power potential than the same geometry Fly-Gen AWESs because the reel-out velocity makes them to fly closer to their own wake.
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