Field of the invention

The present invention refers to a system for generating electrical and thermal energy with photovoltaic cogeneration, i.e. a system for generating electrical and thermal energy that exploits wind and solar energy.

State of the art

The existing vertical-axis wind energy and photovoltaic cogeneration systems are becoming increasingly widespread because of their characteristically excellent efficiency and because of their flexibility in terms of the wind speeds that they can manage.

Unlike horizontal-axis generators, moreover they do not have to be oriented towards the wind, which can consequently come from any direction to make the rotor turn.

Said systems have several drawbacks, however: for instance, they are difficult to transport and they demand a considerable amount of work for their installation on site.

Moreover, they fail to exploit the opportunity to use the thermal energy generated by the sun as well. This is particularly important in domestic applications of such devices because a considerable amount of electrical energy would be consumed to produce domestic hot water, or other systems would have to be used, such as gas boilers, but these solutions rely on fossil fuels.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is a system for generating electrical and thermal energy with photovoltaic cogeneration, designed to overcome the aforesaid problems.

The generator system forming the object of the invention generates electrical energy by means of an electrical machine connected to a vertical-axis turbine driven by the wind and also to photovoltaic panels that generate electrical energy directly from sunlight. The sun also provides thermal energy that is used to heat water, which can then be used in various ways: it can be used directly, for instance, for domestic purposes, or for central heating.

This is made possible by storing water in the generator stators, which thus serve as wind concentrators, as water tanks and as thermal energy conductors, consequently saving a considerable amount of energy that would otherwise have to be drawn from other sources.

The system can be operated as a stand-alone device or as a module interconnected with other similar devices, or with the mains electricity grid.

The object of the present invention is thus a system for generating electrical and thermal energy with photovoltaic cogeneration that, according to claim 1 , comprises: a vertical-axis helical rotor (3); one or more static wind concentrating stators (2); one or more photovoltaic panels (1); characterised in that at least one of said one or more static wind concentrating stators (2) is/are designed to contain water and to heat said water by means of thermal energy.

According to another aspect of the invention, said system can be manufactured so that it can be partially dismantled and stacked in a standard container for its transportation to the site of installation. Or else the system itself can be used as a container.

In addition, the structural design solutions adopted and the set of equipment involved enable its assembly without the aid of other equipment.

The dependent claims describe preferred embodiments of the invention and form an integral part of the present description.

Brief description of the figures

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly in the light of the detailed description of preferred, but not exclusive embodiments of the invention given here as non-limiting examples, with the aid of the attached drawings, wherein:

Figures 1.1 and 1.2 show overall views of the generator according to the present invention, respectively with and without photovoltaic panels;

Figure 2 shows a side view of the part of the system comprising the stators and rotor; Figures 3.1 and 3.2 show other horizontal cross-sectional views, respectively from above and from the side;

Figure 4 shows three cross-sectional views of embodiments of the inside of the stator;

Figure 5 shows a vertical cross-sectional view of the stator comprising a system for exploiting thermal energy to heat the water therein;

Figure 6 shows two side views of the rotor;

Figures 7a, 7b and 7c show an example of how the dismantled system can be stacked in a standard container;

Figure 8 shows how the structure of the system itself can be used as a container;

Figure 9 shows a flow chart of the electronic components for the conversion and usage of the electrical energy generated.

The same reference numbers and letters are used in the figures to identity the same elements or components.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

A system for generating electrical and thermal energy, with photovoltaic cogeneration, according to the present invention comprises a helical rotor 3 and a system of static wind concentrating stators 2.

Said system of wind concentrating stators is designed to increase the speed of the air hitting the helical rotor.

The system of wind concentrators, the rotor, the electrical generator and all the other parts described below are supported by the supporting structure 10.

The upper portion of the supporting structure 10 is flat and comprises an upper fixed base 13 (possibly complete with walkways), on which one or more photovoltaic panels 1 are preferably installed for the cogeneration of electrical energy. This makes it possible to generate electrical energy both simultaneously with the generation of wind energy and also when there is a shortage of wind.

In addition to being connected by means of a suitable joint to the axis of the electrical generator, the vertical axis of the helical rotor 3 is maintained in a vertical position by the supporting structure 10.

A non-limiting example of an embodiment of the helical rotor 1 is also shown in fig.

6, connected to the electrical generator 61. It comprises upper 62 and lower 63 revolving bases, the pins of which are connected to upper 13 and lower 14 fixed bases. The helical rotor is of the thrust type (as opposed to the lift types) and comprises two blades 3.1 and 3.2 at least partially facing one another, and winding in a spiral vertically one opposite the other, with a phase displacement angle between their respective ends that may vary, for instance, between 10° and 90° proportionally to their height.

The two blades are separated by a central cavity through which the wind can flow, without any need for a central axis, and they are attached to two upper 13 and lower 14 bases, that may be square (fig. 1.1 , 1.2), for instance, or circular (fig. 3.1 , 3.2) in shape.

The two fixed bases 13, 14 (fig. 2) have a profile that is advantageously shaped like a windbreak, and that becomes thicker towards the centre. These windbreak bases contribute to the effect of channelling the wind towards the inside of the generator, and they prevent any interference with the part of wind passing by outside, i.e. above and below the structure.

Said system of wind concentrators 2 is static and, as shown in figures 3 and 4, it may comprise four wind concentrators 24, for instance, positioned at a tangent to a cylindrical surface surrounding the rotor and staggered two by two at the same angle around said cylindrical surface.

In the specific case of four wind concentrators, the angle at which the concentrators are staggered is a right angle; in the case of a different number of wind concentrators, their angle is given by 360° ÷ N, where N is the number of wind concentrators.

The two fixed bases 13, 14 are interconnected by means of tubes 16 that can be installed inside the stators (fig. 3), or laterally thereto (fig. 1 ). In the latter case, the lateral surface of the stator has recesses 43 (fig. 4) designed to adhere to the tubes.

The wind concentrators 2 oriented in this way are able to convey the air onto the rotor irrespective of its direction, and they are shaped so as to have an airfoil profile that increases the velocity of the air hitting the rotor. According to one aspect of the present invention, with reference to figures 4 and 5, the stators also serve as containers for water that is heated by the thermal energy coming from the sun. The water 56 can all be contained inside the stators (fig. 4, 5) and heated by using a material for conducting solar energy for the stators (plasties, polyethylene, etc.); as shown in fig. 4, the stator can comprise a portion 41 made of such a conducting material that creates a heat bridge towards internal cavities 42 containing the water to heat.

Alternatively, the stator may be substantially hollow (fig. 5), and a heating coil circuit 59 can be installed inside it, with piping for the circulation of a fluid or with metal bars. The heating circuit can draw thermal energy from a heat concentrator

54 and/or from parts of the system liable to become heated and needing to be cooled (such as the electronics contained in the base, for instance), and/or from a circuit for cooling the photovoltaic solar panels. Thermal solar panels may also be used.

The water circuit inside the stator also comprises a water inlet tap 51 , a water outlet tap 57, a float with a filler valve 52, and an overflow 55.

The lower portion of the supporting structure 10 is in the form of four legs - so that the rotor is raised off the ground to better exploit the wind - with corresponding supporting feet 12.

According to another aspect of the invention, said supporting structure has been studied to achieve a dual purpose:

- a simple and immediate assembly, eliminating the need for outdoor cranes;

- a marked stackability of the component parts in order to make maximum use of the internal dimensions of a standard container.

For this purpose, it is worth noting that the efficiency of a generator system is higher, the larger the size of the generator, so producing a generator designed to make optimal use of the space inside a container is a far from negligible advantage.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the helical rotor is preferably of a height in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 m, with a diameter in the range of 1.0 to 2.0 m.

The upper 13 and lower 14 fixed bases have a diameter that is preferably, but not necessarily, 3.9 (m), though it can vary by several dozen centimetres, with a thickness of approximately 40-50 cm.

The feet 12 on which the supporting structure 10 rests are preferably 1.8 m in height. With reference to figures 7a, 7b and 7c, it is easy to stack a wind generator according to the present invention inside a standard container. Clearly, the upper and lower fixed bases are composed of at least four parts each so that they can easily be stacked, while the rotor is already pre-assembled.

Alternatively (fig. 8), the structure of the generator itself can be shaped so as to serve as a container; for instance, it can comprise anchorages 81 for containers at the corners, and its horizontal 82 and vertical 83 structural parts, and base 84 form the corresponding structural parts of the container, which are subsequently closed by means of suitable side panels (not shown); and the stator components and the rotor are placed inside.

The base 10 contains the electronics for the conversion of the current being generated. The electronic parts (fig. 9) comprise circuit blocks including: the wind energy generator 91 , the photovoltaic generator 92, and storage batteries 93, managed by a current flow controller 94, which controls the choppers 95, 96, 97 at the corresponding outlets of the blocks 91 , 92, 93, that provide electrical energy to the user points 99 by means of inverters 98.

The advantages deriving from the present invention are clearly evident.

The generator is particularly efficient and easy to use, transport and install.

The generator is particularly suitable for being used in places where there is no mains electricity and no lifting apparatus available (e.g. cranes), since it can be assembled using only the contents of the package itself.

It is worth emphasizing an auxiliary application of the generator, which can be combined with a "multimedia kiosk" containing a computer, or other IT hardware device, and that functions with an operating system for computers or other such devices (especially Android, or another generic or special-purpose operating system) so as to provide computer services both offline and connected to the Internet or other online networks. This embodiment is particularly suitable for rural areas in developing countries.

The particular embodiments described herein do not limit the content of this patent application in any way, which covers all the variants of the invention described in the claims. Based on the above description, a technician skilled in the art is capable of implementing the object of the invention without introducing any further structural details.