Makani (company) facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Wind power |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Defunct | 19 February 2020 |
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Key people
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Saul Griffith, Corwin Hardham, Donald Montague, Damon Vander Lind |
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Number of employees
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20+ |
| Parent | Alphabet Inc. |
Makani Technologies LLC was a company based in Alameda, California. They worked on a new way to create electricity from wind. Instead of tall wind turbines, they developed special flying machines called airborne wind turbines. Makani started in 2006 and was later bought by Google in 2013. In February 2020, Makani was closed down by Alphabet, which is Google's parent company.
Contents
The Story of Makani
How Makani Started
Makani was founded in 2006 by three people: Saul Griffith, Don Montague, and Corwin Hardham. They received money from Google.org to help them develop their ideas. The company's name, "Makani," means "wind" in the Hawaiian language. Sadly, Corwin Hardham passed away in 2012.
Joining Google
On May 23, 2013, Google bought Makani Power. Makani then became part of Google X, which is a special lab at Google that works on big, challenging projects. In 2015, Fort Felker became the CEO of Makani. He used to be in charge of the National Wind Technology Center.
Testing the Kites
In December 2016, Makani successfully flew a large test kite for the first time. This kite was a prototype, meaning it was an early version. It had a wing that was 28 meters (about 92 feet) wide and could produce 600 kilowatts of power.
Starting in August 2018, Makani set up a special test site. This site was located on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here, they could test their energy kites in real-world conditions.
New Partnerships and Challenges
In February 2019, Makani became a separate company under Alphabet. At the same time, a big energy company called Royal Dutch Shell invested money in Makani. Shell also started working with Makani to help develop its business.
Later in 2019, Makani faced a challenge. An offshore energy kite was lost during testing. This happened because the wing did not land correctly on its platform. The company investigated what went wrong.
Makani's Closure and Legacy
In February 2020, Alphabet decided to close Makani. They explained that even though the technology was making good progress, it would take too long and be too risky to make it ready for everyone to use.
Even after closing, Makani shared its knowledge with the world. In September 2020, they released something called the "Energy Kite Collection." This included reports, computer code, flight records, and videos from their project. They also released a documentary film about their work. It was called Pulling Power from the Sky: The Story of Makani. Makani also allowed anyone to use their patents without legal issues.
How Makani's Technology Worked
Makani wanted to create renewable energy that was cheap. Their system used special wings that flew by themselves. These wings were connected to the ground by a strong cable, or "tether." As the wings flew in a circular path, they generated electricity.
The electricity was made by wind turbines that were built right onto the main wing. This method is known as crosswind kite power. It was first thought of by Miles Loyd in 1980. Some other companies that work on similar technology keep their generators on the ground. Makani's approach was different because their generators flew high in the sky with the wing.
See also
