What have you heard about solar sails?
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In theory, a very light weight space craft with a very large area "sail" could use pressure from sunlight itself to accelerate. Note that it is the actual sunlight, as in photons, that exert the force, not the solar wind, which is a stream of particles from the Sun. The solar wind does not exert nearly as much force as the light does. Hard to believe, but true.
1047344
Solar Sails.\n\nA spacecraft would deploy a huge sail to capture the solar 'wind', the constant stream of solar particles. A rather slow but economical method to move beyond Earth....
776931
NASA launched the STEREO shuttle at the end of last month to gather data on the sun. I watched the entire count down and lift off. It was very educational. That baby flew at speeds exceeding 10000 meters per second. They had some weather problems and the launch got held back about 20 minutes, but when it launched it was really worth it. The next launch is on December 7th and I highly reccomend watching it. Its better than most of the crap on television!
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The following technologies require further research:\n\nMagnetic sails\nMini-magnetospheric plasma propulsion\nNuclear pulse propulsion (Orion drive)\nGas core reactor rocket\nAntimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion\nNuclear salt-water rocket\nBeam-powered propulsion\nFission sail \nFission-fragment rocket\nNuclear photonic rocket\n\nThe following technologies are significantly beyond current engineering:\n\nFusion rocket\nBussard ramjet\nAntimatter rocket\nRedshift rocket
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A steam engine.  Please, the  1800s are over.  Have you heard of solar power and/or wind power?
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It's been forever since I've done it, so I can't give you an actual schematic (try a search engine for that.) I will give you some tips from my science olympiad glory days, however. I assume you're trying to lift the most weight?\n\nMake your sails out of the lightest material possible and with as little re-enforcement as you can get away with it. That way the energy going into turning the sails is minimized and they can rotate faster (and hence do more work.) Depending on size, posterboard or even paper with a balsawood backing usually works well.\n\nDo you know what will be turning the windmill? If it's a fan, try to find one like it and test against that. If you're using natural windpower, this will be harder to do. Only re-enforce the sails enough so they won't get torn apart.\n\nAs far as the string lifting the weights goes, friction is GOOD. You don't want it slipping and costing you energy and time, if time is an element. In all the other elements, friction is BAD. Break out the ssandpaper if necessary.\n\nAll of this is probably common sense, but I hope I did some good. Best of luck.
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http://www.saildallas.com/\n\ngo there and it gives lots of info about sailing
100058
How's the space weather today? Quiet enough for a safe trip to the moon? Quiet enough to operate your GPS navigation system accurately? So active that it would crash your power grid? Like our everyday weather, space weather can change suddenly, become violent, and interfere with our lives.\n\nSpace weather is driven by the sun. The solar wind, a plasma of protons and electrons, streams out of the sun and changes the shape of Earth's magnetic field.\n\nNear Earth's surface, this field is like the field of a giant bar magnet, as shown. \n\nFurther out in space, the streaming solar wind flattens the field towards the sun and forms a long tail pointing away from the sun, as shown. This region where the solar wind and magnetic field interact is called the magnetosphere.\n\nThe magnetosphere traps particles from the solar wind. This complex system responds strongly to changes in the sun's surface, especially to sunspots, which follow an eleven-year cycle. Sunspots can produce large solar flares, bursts of electromagnetic radiation, and outpourings of charged particles called "coronal mass ejections." Changes in space weather result, sometimes with devastating effect.\n\n    August, 1972: During the time of preparation for Apollo 17, a violent solar flare produced intense radiation that would have killed the astronauts had they been in space at that time\n\n    March, 1989:\n\n        * Vivid auroral displays extended as far south as Arizona\n        * Electric power was knocked out in the province of Quebec for nine hours\n\n    January, 1997: A communications satellite failed a few hours after a coronal mass ejection smashed into the magnetosphere.\n\nJust as with our ordinary weather here on Earth, physicists make measurements and build models to understand and predict space weather. Accurate predictions can help protect power and communications systems and enable astronauts to avoid dangerous conditions in space.\n\nNote: 1989, the year of the Quebec blackout, was a maximum in the eleven-year sunspot cycle. On the other hand, 1972, the year of the solar flare mentioned above, was near the sunspot minimum, but in fact flares can in fact occur at any time during the solar cycle.
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There is a Skipper who used to work for a sailing school that I now work for.  I have heard that he shortly is finishing his current employment so will be available. \n\nHis name is Simon Rowell, he is hugely qualified, and has massive sailing experience. If you need to contact him if you email me.\n\nHope this helps you.\n\nHappy Hunting
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With ground based solar:\nPositives:\nOnce you build the panels the power is free\nLittle environmental impact\nAppeases the luddites\nNegatives:\nDownright expensive\nToo unreliable to be a major player in a power grid\nDoesn't work at night\nReduced power when skies aren't clear\nReduced power in winter and at high latitudes\n\nNow putting the solar power plant in space and beaming the power down to earth is another matter.\nPositives:\nVery clean, possibly cleaner than doing it on the ground (trade off is between making the semiconductors on Earth and dumping the waste from that or launching rockets)\nPotentially very cheap if space resources are used\nActually has a possibility of competing with fossil fuels and nuclear power for dominant power supplier\nNegatives:\nNot yet deployed so we only know of it in theory and limited tests of the microwave power transmission\nEvery year at the equinoxes there is a IIRC 74 minute blackout (not as bad as a 12 hour one though and that's only on two days)\nLuddites will probably oppose it despite the microwave beam being perfectly safe
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Tesla's tower, perhaps?  This is just another way we know that the solar wind is NOT electrically neutral, since the Earth has to absorb the energy and balance itself through the aurora act.  Our instruments in space can't detect the charge difference because the solar "wind" (or electric current) is so big in its plasma state, and the difference per cubic meter is so small.\n\nThis is why scientists like Phil Plait who ride on the nuts of big names like Einstein just might be wrong, but who are we to question Einstein, right?  Well we got bigger and better telescopes and satellites for one, and we've been able to take better pictures and observations because of this.  Damn, I think they were barely discovering the Sun's magnetic field during Einstein's time.\n\nThere are so many examples out there that demonstrate the electrical nature of the universe.\n\nMars, and how it got blasted?  Yep.\nhttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlajPWBaIISxPbzkjEFDsqzsy6IX?qid=20060619194732AAwm9Mf\n\nComet's and their interactions with the Sun? Yep.  Venus' almost perfectly circular orbit, how we detected a long, "stringy" plasma structure issuing from Venus that nearly reached our planet, and how Venus spins the other direction very slowly, and how the entire planet has a nearly brand new surface, AND how ancient names for it are morning star, BEARDED planet, HAIRY planet, and SMOKY planet?  Oh yeah, double mother-fuckin' check on that.\n\nRead up on the "Electric Universe" theory, it's the future of space science.  All these old guys at NASA will be out of jobs if word ever gets out, so they'll get really mad when their life's work is challenged and I guess I can understand that.... but get OUT!
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You'd probably be best off if you checked out the "Sailmakers Apprentice." It's not as simple as just a standard pattern. You'll need to size it to your mast and boom, allow room for the camber, and pay attention to the stress areas...
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ok i'm sorry, but rather than write it all out, please go here:  http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/weather-sailor.html\n\nsmooth sailing
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A solar still big enough to supply the needs of one person is an incredibly small, compact package.  It does NOT have to heat the sea water to anywhere near the boiling point, only a few degrees above ambient temperature to where the rate of evaporation is sufficient to cause fresh water to collect on the inside of a clear plastic cover and trickle down into a gutter where it is collected for drinking.  This principle has been known and used for at least 300 years.\n\nHere's a sample of what you get googling "solar still":\nhttp://www.solaqua.com/solstilbas.html
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the above one of solar cell is gr8\nor you can make a model of a wind mill, attach it to a motor and then, artificially, rotate it to produce current in the motor and connect it to a small bulb to show it lighting
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barracuda \nalso they come out with a thing called a floatron that eliminates need for chemicals by putting electrons in the water it is solar powered and lifetime warranty \nit works great i bought one 2 years ago and never bought chemicals again ( about 300 dollars but it pays for itself)
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How Does the Windmill Work?\n\nWind Energy\nWind is an indirect source of solar energy. It is caused by the uneven heating of the earth by the sun and the resulting redistribution of air to equalize energy in the atmosphere moving air from areas of high pressure to areas of lower pressure. The energy of the wind is transferred to the windmill’s sails where it is harnessed to perform work.\n\nThe cap of the windmill is turned with the winch attached to the bottom of the tail pole until the sails face the direction of the wind. Depending on the wind speed, wind boards are installed on the leading edge of the sails and canvas sail-cloths are unfurled across the sail-frames. The Miller climbs the sail-frame using the sail-bars like rungs of a ladder attaching the canvas to the cleats on the whip. High winds require less open sail than low wind. The Miller determines the amount of sail surface required based on wind speed and partially furls (reefs) the sails as required. The sails catch the wind and turn the wind-shaft.\n\nThe wind-shaft which is connected to the brake-wheel can be stopped with the brake which consists of a band of friction blocks encircling the brake-wheel attached to the brake lever and controlled via a rope near the tail pole attached to the brake lever. The turning brake-wheel turns the wallower connected to the upright shaft on the fifth level. A wood wheel on the fourth level is used to adjust any irregular spinning of the upright shaft.\n\nThe upright shaft is connected to a large gear called the spur-wheel on the third level. Power to run many things in the windmill is drawn from this wheel. Two stone-nuts turned by the spur-wheel drive quant shafts in turn rotating the runner stones; the top stones of the grinding stone pairs. The lower stone of the grinder is the bedstone; it remains stationary. The spur-wheel also turns a third lantern gear (trundle) to drive power transfer belts, pulleys and shafts used to operate the grain elevators, sifters, grain separator, corn sheller and a vacuum system.\n\nHow is Grain Ground into Flour?\nGrain and flour move through the system using grain elevators and gravity. Grain is carried into the windmill and poured into first level hoppers. From there it is cleaned in the basement with the corn sheller and grain separator. Grain elevators carry cleaned grain to the third level hoppers which hold it until it is dropped into the second level grinders. Corn & oats are ground in the west grinder and dropped into a ceiling mounted sifter on the first level. Wheat & rye are ground in the east grinder. The flour drops into an elevator at the ceiling of the first level, is carried back up to a hopper on the third level and dropped into the sifter on the second level. The sifted flour is stored in hoppers suspended from the ceiling on the first level.\n\nInteresting Notes\nThe windmill contains two scales; a floor scale in the windmill and a wagon scale outside the north end of the windmill. The scale inside the windmill can weigh individual bags of grain. The scale outside is used for weighing loaded and unloaded wagons.