Plant for the production of electricity including a tensile structure

The present invention relates to a solar and/or wind power generation plant comprising a raised support structure positioned on agricultural land, adapted to support devices capable of receiving sunlight, for example photovoltaic panels and/or wind modules.

Such plant can be installed on agricultural land, leaving the possibility of using that land for its original purpose, i.e. for growing vegetables, cereals or grazing animals.

The plant comprises a tensile structure which is the overhead support structure for these devices.

Patent application US2017194894A1 describes various types of solar power plants in which the photovoltaic panels are supported by tensile structures. Agricultural installations can also be built underneath such plant.

For the purposes of the present invention, a tensile structure means a structure made of materials held in place by tension.

A photovoltaic plant is described in patent application W02019049094 where greenhouses for growing vegetables are placed on the same land as the power plant. The electricity produced by the plant is also used to power devices to manage the crops (e.g. sprinklers, environmental sensors placed inside and outside the greenhouse).

Systems are also known for moving solar panels on two axes, which are known in jargon as "solar trackers".

Such a type of solar tracker is shown in patent application W02010103378 which describes a supporting structure consisting of support posts held in position by a grid of tie rods, both the support posts and the tie rods being fixed into the ground by a hinge pin.

The solar tracker comprises a main horizontal load-bearing profile, which can rotate about its own axis, to which a plurality of secondary profiles are connected, fixed perpendicularly to the main profile and which can be rotated about their own axis. The solar panels are fixed to these secondary profiles. The ends of the main tracker profile are supported and fixed onto support profiles. 2

Patent WO2013076573 describes such a support pole structure that also supports wind modules. Such a structure is made two-dimensional in a "checkerboard" arrangement and can also be installed on farming land, since it is elevated and the distance between the support poles is such as to allow the passage of even large farming machinery.

The applicant noted that support structures for solar devices are often bulky and cumbersome. In fact, if the support structure is slender and space-saving, it improves the ability of agricultural vehicles to move around on the ground below the plant. In addition, the limited size of the structure, with the same surface area occupied by the plant, will allow a greater number of panels to be positioned with the same level of shading of the ground below.

An aspect of the present invention relates to a having the characteristics of the appended claim 1.

Further features of the present invention are contained in the dependent claims.

The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, provided by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the schematic attached drawings, wherein:

• figure 1 shows an exemplary perspective view of the upper layer of the tensile structure of the plant according to the present invention;

• figure 2 illustrates an exemplary perspective view of the lower layer of the tensile structure of the plant according to an embodiment of the present invention in which the two layers are orthogonal to each other;

• figure 3 illustrates an exemplary perspective view of the lower layer of the tensile structure of the plant according to an embodiment of the present invention in which the two layers are parallel to each other;

• figure 4 shows an exemplary perspective view of the tensile structure of the plant according to the embodiment of the present invention in which the two layers are orthogonal to each other; 3

• figure 5 shows an exemplary perspective view of a group of solar energy receiving devices fixed onto the tensile structure of the plant in the embodiment of figure 4;

• figure 6 shows an exemplary perspective view of a group of solar energy receiving devices fixed onto the tensile structure of the plant in the embodiment in which the two layers are parallel to each other;

• figures 7a and 7b schematically illustrate a row of the plant (in front and side view) according to the embodiment of figure 4 with receiving devices mounted on this row of the tensile structure;

• figures 8a and 8b schematically illustrate a row of the plant (in front and side view) according to the embodiment in which the two layers are parallel to each other with receiving devices mounted on this row of the tensile structure;

• figures 9a and 9b illustrate assembly diagrams of the receiving devices;

• figure 10 schematically illustrates a plant according to the embodiment with receiving devices mounted in a checkerboard arrangement;

• figure 11 schematically illustrates a plant according to the embodiment with row-mounted receiving devices;

• figure 12 schematically illustrates a further embodiment of plant according to the present invention;

• figure 13 schematically illustrates a detail of figure 12.

With reference to the above-mentioned figures, the plant for the production of electricity according to the present invention is positioned on land T essentially comprising a tensile structure including a first upper layer comprising at least a first FS1 and at least a second FS2 row of support poles PS1 ... PSn, substantially aligned and facing each other and fixed to this ground T, connected between facing poles by longitudinal tie rods TS1 ... TSn parallel to each other and connection cables CS1, CS2 arranged inclined (preferably orthogonally) with respect to these tie rods and which join the poles of each row. Both the longitudinal tie rods and the connection cables comprise an end portions TST and CST thereof fixed to the ground. 4

The tensile structure includes a second lower layer comprising at least a first Fll and at least a second FI2 row of support poles PI 1... Pin, substantially aligned and facing each other and fixed to this ground T, connected between facing poles by longitudinal tie rods Til...Tin parallel to each other and connection cables Cll CI2 arranged inclined (preferably orthogonally) with respect to these tie rods and which join the poles of each row. Both the longitudinal tie rods and the connection cables comprise an end portion TIT and CIT thereof fixed to the ground.

In each of the layers the number of support poles may be less than or equal to the number of longitudinal tie rods. For example, in the illustrated figures, two poles support three tie rods by means of a triangular portion of tie rods which has the top of two poles as two vertices and the union of the two initial portions of tie rods as its third vertex. From the aforesaid three vertices the three tie rods extend towards the opposite poles of the layer.

The two upper and lower layers are positioned substantially overlapping each other and are sized so that the tie rods of the upper layer are at a higher height than the tie rods of the lower layer, allowing a plurality of solar energy receiving devices D to be constrained between an upper and a lower tie rod so as to be normally positioned inclined with respect to the horizontal.

The two layers can be variously oriented to each other on the ground with respect to a vertical axis. In the embodiment illustrated in figure 4, the first layer and the second layer are positioned so as to have their respective tie rods substantially orthogonal to each other and the devices D are positioned near the intersections between the tie rods of the two layers, in so as to form, seen from above, a checkerboard structure.

In the embodiment illustrated in figure 5, the first layer and the second layer are positioned so as to have the respective substantially parallel tie rods offset to each other and the devices D are positioned in rows, each being constrained to a tie rod of the upper layer and one of the lower layer.

In other embodiments, the first layer and the second layer are positioned so as to present the respective tie rods inclined to each other so as to form, seen from above, a structure with rhomboidal grids. 5

Plant forms of various types (plants, trees, shrubs, etc ...) can be grown under the tensile structure on the ground. In addition, agricultural installations such as greenhouses or so on can be obtained on this plant.

In the embodiment of figure 4 wherein the tie rods are orthogonal to each other, the devices comprise means for fixing to the tie rods comprising a bracket 2 shaped like a "C" which surrounds one or more devices placed side by side. The free ends of the C are constrained to the tie rod TSi of the upper layer so that the device rests its rear layer (the one that is not illuminated) on the tie rod, while the base of the C is constrained to the tie rod Tli of the lower layer During the plant design phase, by varying the position and height of one layer in relation to the other, it is possible to change the orientation (in particular the angle of inclination a of the device D (panel) in relation to the horizontal plane. In addition, the two-layer tensile structure allows the choice of various panel fixing configurations, such as those shown in figures 10a and 10b. In particular, figure 10a illustrates a portion of the plant in the embodiment with the tie rods of the two mutually parallel layers in which the panels are positioned in groups and each group on each row is spaced apart from each other, while on the adjacent row the panels are also spaced apart, but offset with respect to the adjacent row, so as to form a checkerboard panel structure. In particular, figure 10b illustrates a portion of the plant in the embodiment with the tie rods of the two mutually orthogonal layers in which the panels are positioned in groups on the intersections between the tie rods of the first layer and of the second layer each time leaving an intersection free from panels, creating a structure of checkerboard panels as in figure 10a. According to a further embodiment illustrated in figures 13 and 14, the plant comprises a first row of ends FI and a second row of ends F2 formed by a plurality of aligned support posts Pl...Pn fixed to such ground on the top of which a transversal support S is fixed, arranged in an inclined position with respect to the horizontal plane defined by the ground T defining one end at a higher level and a lower one.

Upper longitudinal tie rods are connected TSl...TSn at the upper ends of these supports defining an upper layer of tie rods parallel to each other and lower 6 longitudinal tie rods are connected Til...Tin at the lower ends of these supports defining a lower layer of tie rods parallel to each other.

There are also connection cables CS1 CS2 arranged orthogonally to these tie rods and joining these poles in each row. According to the present invention, the plant comprises at least one intermediate row Fi of intermediate posts II...In, which supports both the upper and lower tie rods. These intermediate poles comprise a branched structure R defining three upper ends with a respective support Si on each of them of the same type as those on the end poles. In this way, an intermediate pole of the plant is able to support as many tie rods as three end poles. In this way, more space is available inside the plant on the ground for agricultural vehicles and crops. Like the other embodiments illustrated, the receiving device panels D can be constrained between an upper and lower tie rod so that they are normally positioned inclined with respect to the horizontal. In addition, the panels can also have their own movement system that allows them to further change their inclination, enabling them to maintain the desired and correct orientation towards the sun.