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Oregon Kite Power Start-Up Gets State And Federal Funding

An Oregon start-up that’s trying to use kites to generate electricity has secured close to a quarter of a million dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agencies.

Beaverton-based eWind Solutions is working with Oregon State University to develop kites that generate power by flying in a figure ‘8’ pattern. The hope is that will make the kites pull hard on their cords, which are attached to a ground-based ratchet system that spins a power generator.

Ken Vaughn is with Oregon BEST, a state supported group that commercializes clean-tech. He estimates each kite could generate power for five homes.

“So this would be an alternative to say a small wind turbine that you might see on a farm.”

The kites can’t fly higher than 500 feet, because of FAA restrictions.

The company won a $100,000 SBIR grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and Oregon BEST recently awarded it $125,000 from its Early Stage Investments Program.

Other companies are working on much larger kites, that have propellers and generators on-board. They fly at very high altitudes where the winds are stronger and more constant.

Copyright 2021 EarthFix. To see more, visit .

Kristian Foden-Vencil is a veteran journalist/producer working for Oregon Public Broadcasting. He started as a cub reporter for newspapers in London, England in 1988. Then in 1991 he moved to Oregon and started freelancing. His work has appeared in publications as varied as The Oregonian, the BBC, the Salem Statesman Journal, Willamette Week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NPR and the Voice of America. Kristian has won awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. He was embedded with the Oregon National Guard in Iraq in 2004 and now specializes in business, law, health and politics.