Portable Solar Updraft Tower Power Station

With Josh Dunn and Lucas Haroldsen

Concept: Small, portable solar updraft station designed to charge electric motorcycles. Low to the ground membrane surrounding the tower heats air underneath it, which flows up through the tower turning a dynamo turbine that charges a battery.

For more about solar updraft towers look here

It’s not meant to be efficient or practical. It does need to work, however,  and our research suggests that it can. Even if it takes a day to generate one glorious short ride through the desert, riders will feel the expenditure of energy. 

The solar updraft charging station is meant to be portable. The riders bring the charging station with them. It packs up in a way that makes that possible. For example, the tower element of the charging station will eventually need to telescope down to a smaller size so it can be affixed to the bike.  

Needs funding. Please contact me directly if you are interested in helping us evolve this project