Airborne turbine systems with multiple aerial vehicles connected via multiple tethers to a shared ground station are disclosed. The ground station includes a multi-tether clock-face de-twist apparatus with a de-twist element that rotates along with the looping aerial vehicles. The de-twist element may be passively rotated through torque applied via the tethers or may be actively rotated via a drive system.

A system for carrying a tether guide, including a counter-balanced support system with two pivot points, where a first pivot allows the tether guide to travel up and down and the second pivot allows the tether guide to match the tether angle. Both pivots may be passive pivots. A shuttle that carries the tether guide may be electronically cammed to follow variable pitch helical grooves of a winch drum as the tether guide traverses across the drum length.

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for increasing the mechanical energy of an aerial vehicle as part of an Airborne Wind Turbine are disclosed. The aerial vehicle is coupled to a distal portion of a tether and a ground station is coupled to a proximal portion of the tether. A mass possessing a gravitational potential energy is also coupled to the proximal portion of the tether. A connector is configured to releasably hold the mass at an elevation. Release of the mass transfers energy to the aerial vehicle by increasing tension in the tether.

Systems including tethers with one or more attached airfoil tails are described. Some systems include reversibly deformable struts that attach the tails to a tether to allow for stretch of the tether when the tether is under tension. The form of the tails may vary along the length of the tether to account for different aerodynamic design considerations.

Faired tethers with internal support structures providing support to strength cores, and systems therewith, are described. The faired tethers include one or more electrical conductors and one or more rigid supports that inhibit movement of a strength core within a faired tether.

A power plant includes a structure and a vehicle having at least one wing including a first wing part and a second wing part. The vehicle is arranged to be secured to the structure by at least one tether. The vehicle is arranged to move in a predetermined trajectory by a fluid stream passing the wing. The vehicle includes at least one turbine connected to a nacelle having a generator. At least the first wing part is arranged at a first angle relative to a horizontal center line of the wing. The nacelle is arranged to be attached to a surface of the wing facing the direction in which the first wing part is angled.

An airborne device comprising a wind turbine with an axis of rotation, an airborne structure configured to support the wind turbine, a lift system configured to keep the airborne structure in flight, at least one belt for transmitting a rotational movement of the wind turbine to a ground station, said belt being guided by at least one ground-based return pulley, wherein each ground-based return pulley is rigidly secured to a pivoting shaft, is positioned in a guide plane perpendicular to the pivoting shaft and is configured to guide the belt, wherein the axis of rotation of the wind turbine and the guide plane of each ground-based return pulley form an angle of less than 60.

Airborne wind turbine systems with multiple aerial vehicles connected via multiple tethers to a single ground station are disclosed. A node is coupled to the tethers. The node includes a drive system. At a proximate end of the node, each of the tethers is adjacent to neighboring tethers. And at a distal end of the node, each of the tethers is separated from the neighboring tethers. The airborne wind turbine system includes a control system configured to operate the drive system to translate the node along the tethers.

A tether guide system operable through a wide range of tether/fleeting angles while causing minimal wear to the tether. The tether guide system may include a series of rollers arranged in a curved path. Also disclosed are tether guides with a sliding belt, a guide surface, or a guide wheel, all for use in the disclosed tether guide system.

A fluidic structure configured to be mounted onto the hub of a fluidic turbine comprising a hub that rotates about a center axis, aligned to a main shaft that contributes torque to the main shaft of the turbine via the principle of lift and/or drag. The fluidic structure can be rigid or have some flexibility. The structure has two or more curved fluidic elements that extend from an upstream tip that aligns to the center axis of rotation, to a downstream end at some further radial position away from the center axis, and rotates about the center axis, wherein the two or more curved fluidic elements contain chord sections that are generally more wide at the upstream position and general more narrow at the downstream position.