Is there any research going into harnessing lightning?
Sunday, June 13, 2004 by I.R. Brainiac | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Storms here produce an incredible amount of energy...is there not a way to capture lightning in a large capacitor?Convert it to ac and make it available into the grid? 
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Aleatoric
Reply #22 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:43 PM
Reply #22 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:43 PM
Those are some seriously cool lightning strike images, though 
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #23 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:45 PM
Reply #23 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:45 PM
Getting lightning to strike something is no problem...if its set up permanent,it WILL get hit.What about a bank of sand resistors to curb the initial strike before it hits the capacitor?
lovesblessing
Reply #24 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:50 PM
Reply #24 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:50 PM
Ah, yes, Florida....lightning capital of the world!?! (ok, could possibly be only the US! 
)
Un-harnessed lightning over the swamp.....makes lots of things glow......and causes the elephants to tap dance on the roof of buildings...... 
) Un-harnessed lightning over the swamp.....makes lots of things glow......and causes the elephants to tap dance on the roof of buildings......
Aleatoric
Reply #25 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:53 PM
Reply #25 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:53 PM
The problem with using some sort of resistance is twofold:
First, if a cap is the storage medium, adding resistance will increase the time to charge the cap.
Second, adding resistance will make the lightning current more likely to take a different path (even if it hits the structure that has the cap, the lightning might just go around the cap, instead of into it).
All said, I think it would be quite cool if we could set up some mechanism to store at least some of a lightning strike, if for no other reason than that it would be a neat technical problem. Getting any real useful energy from it would likely be more work and resources than getting power from usual sources.
First, if a cap is the storage medium, adding resistance will increase the time to charge the cap.
Second, adding resistance will make the lightning current more likely to take a different path (even if it hits the structure that has the cap, the lightning might just go around the cap, instead of into it).
All said, I think it would be quite cool if we could set up some mechanism to store at least some of a lightning strike, if for no other reason than that it would be a neat technical problem. Getting any real useful energy from it would likely be more work and resources than getting power from usual sources.
Ande
Reply #26 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:06 AM
Reply #26 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:06 AM
Yrag/IPlural LMAO. Michael, you of all people, a texan, should know to rope and saddle a bolt of lightning and then break it in would be very difficult. 
Aleatoric
Reply #28 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:16 AM
Reply #28 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:16 AM
I think he's still scratching out the Grand Canyon.
Ande
Reply #29 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:30 AM
Reply #29 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:30 AM
I think I'll hang around this thread for a while. That one IPlural started, hell, if I read only two of those books I would end up in a permanent state of depression.
Old_Crab
Reply #30 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 2:48 AM
Reply #30 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 2:48 AM
Hmmmmmmmmmm. IRB I've got a special assignment for you that will radically challange your rather peculiar intellect. Go outside and hold up a tall metal rod in one hand and a glass rod in the other during a thunderstorm of course. Now, if struck, I want you to come back and tell us all if you felt a tingling sensation or not when you were struck by the lightning. This could end up in some sort of science journal or a medical journal. >
>
woah!!!!!!!!!! awesome!!!
HG_Eliminator
Reply #32 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 9:39 PM
Reply #32 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 9:39 PM
ahh forget that .. if they could harness the energy in my 4 toddlers .. now thered be sum real power ......were talkin ending global energy shortage ..
DesignCaddy
Reply #33 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 10:26 PM
Reply #33 Tuesday, June 15, 2004 10:26 PM
yes, experiements have been made. just last night walking home from the ballgame, i (and 44,700 other people) got to run like hell, hide, run like hell again as the lightning bolts were forking around us all over the place i've never been so eager to get down into a subway before
i've never been so eager to get down into a subway before
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #34 Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:28 AM
Reply #34 Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:28 AM
Nope.Old Crab,no tingling sensation.Funny,I feel no sensation whatsoever.As a matter of fact,people have been ignoring me all day.Its as if I wasnt there.
Old_Crab
Reply #35 Wednesday, June 16, 2004 2:50 AM
Reply #35 Wednesday, June 16, 2004 2:50 AM
Hmmmmmmmmm. Thought I heard somebody. Just a buZZing sound, like a real live wire. >
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Reply #21 Monday, June 14, 2004 11:41 PM
You'd need one with a very low effective series resistance, a very high dielectric value, and a very high capacitance. Even then, assuming you could reliably get the lightning through the cap (the ESR would likely be higher than the ionized current path through the air, which would make the lightning go through the air instead of the cap), capacitors don't charge as quickly as all that, there's a time/charge curve that limits how fast it can charge.
It's remotely possible that we could store some small amount of the charge, but the usefulness would be limited, since we can't really get a strike to target effectively (even the rockets and wire don't get a hit all the time).
It could be set up to burn out flashlight bulbs, though