Can you harvest a sails energy withouth movement?

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SUMMARY

Harvesting wind energy using stationary sails is not feasible due to the fundamental principle that energy generation requires motion. Modern sails, designed as airfoils, are less efficient than wind turbines, which utilize high aspect ratios and precise shaping to maximize energy capture. The discussion emphasizes that both wind and solar energy generation rely on movement, as force without motion cannot produce energy. Therefore, a computer-controlled stationary sail cannot effectively harness wind energy.

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dboy18
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I was thinking of new ways to harness windenergy. A sail produces a lot of power, could you somehow harvest this energy, if you had a modern computercontrolled kevlar (or something akin) sail attached to the ground; i.e having no forward movement.

Pressure to electricity or something like that?

Think about it; minimal moving parts, virtually no noise, and beautiful to behold...
 
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You can't generate power without some motion. Force with no motion generates no energy at all. In addition, modern sails act as airfoils, which is why a modern triangular rigged sailboat is so much faster than an older square-rigged craft. The airfoils on wind turbines are much more efficient and lower loss than any sail, due to their extremely high aspect ratio and careful shaping.
 
cjl said:
You can't generate power without some motion. Force with no motion generates no energy at all. In addition, modern sails act as airfoils, which is why a modern triangular rigged sailboat is so much faster than an older square-rigged craft. The airfoils on wind turbines are much more efficient and lower loss than any sail, due to their extremely high aspect ratio and careful shaping.

Yep, that's even true with solar panels. The momentum of the absorbed photons is conserved.
 

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