HRP20120648A2 - Solar cells integrated into fiberglass boat hull - Google Patents

Abstract

Solar cells integrated into the fiberglass shell of the vessel shell are achieved as part of the fiberglass vessel construction process by integrating solar cells within the fiberglass laminate into one of the laminate layers shown in Figures 4 and 5 on the outer surfaces of the vessel, primarily on the hull. The term fiberglass refers to a construction technology that uses glass fabric as a reinforcement to increase strength and resin as a bonding material. The glass fabric is made of threads that can also be made of carbon, kevlar or other material intended for construction in fiberglass. Resin as a bonding material of this technology can be of different composition, the most famous being polyester, vinyl ester and epoxide. By interconnecting glass fabrics with the help of a resin, we get a fiberglass product. The process of integrating solar cells takes place within the classical construction process, which involves the use of certain materials and the implementation of appropriate operations, which involves the use of molds for construction (1.1) in which are placed: gelcoat layer (2.1), glass cloth layer and resin layer (2.2), and thus to the desired dimensions of the laminate (1.2). The laminate shown in Figure 2 is the basic structure of a fiberglass product and is defined by the number of layers of glass fabric (2.2), the thickness and method of weaving of glass fabric, the types and thickness of the core elements that can be placed, the type of resin, gelcoat (outer layer) and more. Place the solar cells in one of the first layers of fiberglass laminate (4.3, 5.2) according to the technological process of lamination in accordance with the rules of the profession. The primary purpose of the present invention is to lay solar cells in one of the layers when designing a new vessel, but the present invention also includes the coating of vessels made of other fiberglass materials where solar cells are contained in one of the layers.

Description

Technical field to which the invention relates

This invention relates to a vessel in whose hull solar cells are integrated, which convert the sun's energy into electrical energy used for the needs of the vessel's energy system, including the vessel's propulsion.

The field of technology to which the present invention relates is designated by the International Classification of Patents with B63H and H01L.

Technical problem

The technical problem that is solved by the subject invention is the provision of electricity for the needs of the vessel, by converting the sun's energy into electricity, and by using solar cells on the surface of the vessel placed in such a way that for the vessel of certain dimensions and the shape of the external surfaces, the greatest possible amount of converted electricity is provided solar cells from the energy of the sun.

State of the art

Water travel is one of the oldest forms of transportation when the first vessels were simple rafts, boats hollowed out of trunks, canoes built of branches and covered with animal skins, or interconnected logs used to travel up and down rivers.

Before the advent of machines, vessels were propelled by oars and muscle energy (biological) was used. In addition, sailing ships were used as a propulsion system, and the first ones were built around 3500 BC when they heralded the era of world exploration and trade. Sailboats are suitable for sailing downwind and sideways, while upwind sailing requires more time and skill, and as a last resort, manned oars remain.

Thus, until the invention of the railway in the 19th century, boats and ships were the only means of transporting goods over long distances. Today there are various types of boats and ships made of many materials, from wood, plastic, fiberglass, aluminum, steel and concrete.

Water transport takes place by navigation on oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and canals. It is one of the oldest forms of transportation, and it connected large cities that were mostly built on the coasts of seas and rivers. Today, water transport accounts for about 80% of the total traffic, and its economy is much higher than that of land and air, primarily in commercial maritime transport, but also in all other branches of maritime transport, primarily due to small infrastructure investments.

At the very beginning of the 19th century, the first relatively successful steamship was built, and after that ship's boilers, steam engines were improved, and the steam turbine was discovered and perfected.

With the invention of the screw, a big step was taken in the development of steamships and the speed of ships was significantly increased. The ship screw was invented in 1827.

After the discovery of the ship's screw, the next big step forward in the shipbuilding industry was the introduction of the diesel engine. By perfecting the ship's diesel engine, the most suitable machine for ship propulsion was obtained (fuel consumption is close to 20% lower than a steam turbine drive).

These ships use diesel-electric drives to which gas turbine-electric and diesel-electric drives can be added.

Today, concepts are being developed for the propulsion of vessels that will come in the near future, with an emphasis on renewable energy, such as wind and water energy, but above all solar energy, which is converted through solar cells into the electricity needed to drive electric motors.

Today, we are witnessing impressive achievements as a result of intensive and comprehensive efforts to ensure the energy needs, not only movement, of vessels using renewable and ecologically clean energy, above all solar energy, which is converted into electricity by solar cells.

Among these achievements, it is worth highlighting the built ship 31 meters long and equipped with 530 square meters of surface on which 38,000 solar cells were installed.

In an effort to provide for a certain vessel the greatest possible amount of electricity converted by solar cells from the solar plant, more and more often cases are encountered that the vessel is specially designed and dimensioned on which solar cells will be placed in predetermined places.

The state of the art contained in the patent literature (DE29610516U, EP0825104, JP7179195, JP62068199, US3982963, US5131341, US5720452, US8152577) mostly includes technical solutions that mainly develop various types of mechanical assemblies for fixing solar cell panels to various types of already built vessels, where some of of patent documents (DE29610516, GB1598751, JP2007224538, US4371139, US4421943) represent technical solutions of mechanical assemblies that enable adjustment of the angle of inclination of the substrate on which the solar cells are placed, while a large number of patent documents (CA2063243, US4695785, US4873480, US4999560, US5131, US510511) US8152577) refers to technical solutions of electrical connections and circuits that achieve voltage adjustment and accumulation of electrical energy obtained from solar cells. Some of the patent documents (DE4136379, EP0825104, JP7179195, JP62068199, US3982963, US5131341, US5720452, US8152577) deal with various ways of laying solar panels on the outer surfaces of the vessel, while several patent documents (GB2405742, DE3836259, US204628) present technical solutions for combined energy sources. for the needs of vessels, where, in addition to solar energy, other known sources of energy are available, such as liquid and gaseous energy sources, wind, waves.

It is not known that the state of the art includes any technical solution that refers to the laying of solar cells on practically all available external surfaces of new or already built vessels in the way that is solved by the subject invention.

The technical solution according to the invention is defined in the context of fiberglass, which term denotes the technology of building new vessels in which glass fabric is used as a strength element and resin as a binding material. Glass fabric made of threads that can also be made of carbon, Kevlar or some other material intended for construction in fiberglass. The resin as a binding material of this technology can be of different composition, the best known being polyester, vinylester and epoxy. By interconnecting glass fabrics with the help of resin, we get a fiberglass product.

There are several technologies for building new vessels in fiberglass that imply the existence of a mold for building a boat 1.1 in which the following layers are laid: gelcoat layer 2.1, glass fabric layer, then resin layer 2.2, and so on until the desired dimensions of the laminate 1.2. Before laying the first layer, it is necessary to coat the mold with a separator that serves to prevent the fiberglass casting from sticking to the mold.

It is customary to apply a gelcoat as the first layer, which in the final product serves as an outer finishing layer, and to which it is possible to add various color pigments and thus ensure the desired color of the casting. In addition to fabric layers, core layers of spongy materials are sometimes applied, which serve to increase the thickness of the laminate and thereby improve the mechanical properties of the hull with a minimal increase in mass.

This lamination procedure can also be carried out with some more advanced technological processes, such as vacuum infusion, in which layers of fabric are stacked on top of each other, and such a unit, covered with a protective material, is vacuumed to a certain negative pressure. The resin as a binding material is then released through a specific arrangement of suction channels to penetrate through all the layers. This technological process, as well as resin extrusion, is carried out with the aim of increasing the ratio of fabric to resin, which contributes to additional strength and reduced weight of the vessel.

The laminate shown in Figure 2 is the basic structure of the fiberglass product and is defined by the number of layers of glass fabric 2.2, its thickness and method of weaving, the types and thickness of the core elements that can be placed, the type of resin, gelcoat (outer layer) and others.

Defining the laminate - the plan precedes construction, and it is dimensioned in accordance with the necessary technical characteristics of fiberglass, primarily strength, which in the case of ships is in accordance with the rules of the ship registry. Laminate - the plan is different for individual parts of the ship, but also for individual zones of the parts of the ship, and is possible in the simplest variant from 2 layers of glass fabric and resin as a binding material to significantly more layers that include different types and thicknesses of glass weaving and core materials .

An integral component of the technical solution according to the invention is

Solar cell 3.2 as a basic element in the conversion of solar energy into electrical voltage. It has smaller dimensions, 125×125 mm or 156×156 mm are the most common dimensions, and it usually has a voltage value of 0.5 V. A solar cell can be made of different materials, and the most widely used are mono-silicon and poly-silicon due to their market acceptable prices.

Solar module 3.1 consists of several interconnected solar cells, and is available on the market as a finished product. The size of the solar module is determined by the number of cells that connect to each other to form a certain voltage height (eg 12V, 24V, 4 8V).

Presentation of the essence of the invention

The essence of the solution to the indicated technical problem consists in integrating solar cells on the outer surfaces of the vessel, primarily on the hull, within the fiberglass laminate in one of the laminate layers shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5.

Solar cells are laid in accordance with the rules of the profession. The primary purpose of this invention is to lay solar cells in one of the layers during the construction of a new vessel, but this invention also implies that finished vessels already built from other materials are covered in fiberglass, where solar cells are placed in one of the layers.

The very process of building a fiberglass vessel, part of which is the integration of solar cells, is similar to the classic process of building a vessel with the difference that solar cells are laid between one of the first layers of glass fabric, which are then connected into modules. It does not always have to be precisely defined in advance between which layers the solar cells will be laid, but that is left to the builder's discretion. The possibility of adjusting the number of layers implies that the fact that more outer layers in front of the solar cells form a better mechanical protection of the solar cells is taken into account, while smaller layers let more solar energy through in order to achieve the optimum. Likewise, it does not have to be pre-defined whether gelcoat will be installed as the first outer layer or whether the first layer will be glass weaving. If gelcoat (4.1, 5.1) is installed, it must allow the permeability of solar energy. The assumption is that the solar cells will most often be located between the first and second layers of glass fabric.

It is possible to lay integrated solar cells on some of the other materials for building the ship, but they must be integrated into the laminate used to cover that material. The construction process is similar to construction in a mold with the difference that in this case the solar cells are placed in one of the last layers so that they are exposed to the influence of solar energy as much as possible.

Solar cells integrated into the laminate of the hull and other parts of the vessel in the manner described above form a whole with the laminate. At the same time, the cells are connected to each other in series and in parallel, thus forming certain modules with corresponding voltage values, which are further connected to the ship's energy system via an electrical element.

The interconnections of individual cells are multiple, which ensures the functionality of the system if the connections between individual cells or modules are interrupted or if individual cells or modules fail. The size of the module is defined by the voltage level of the ship's system, while electrical elements are used in various variants ensuring a constant voltage of the ship's energy system. The inclusion of electrical elements during the connection of the solar cell module to the ship's energy system plays an important role in moments when a particular part of the vessel is damaged and thus the cells in that area are damaged. The same function is expressed when there is a failure of a single solar cell or module. In these circumstances, the electrical converters ensure the constant voltage of the damaged module and it is possible to connect it to the ship's energy system.

Brief description of the drawing

Figure 1: View of construction in fiberglass

Position 1.1: Mold of the ship;

Position 1.2: Fiberglass laminate layers;

Figure 2: View of laminate

Position 2.1: Gel coat, varnish or other final coating;

Position 2.2: Various layers of fiberglass (glass cloth+binding resin);

Figure 3: View of the solar module

Position 3.1: Solar module;

Position 3.2: Solar cells;

Figure 4: View of integrated solar cells in the laminate under the last layer of glass fabric

Position 4.1: Gel coat, varnish or other final coating;

Position 4.2: Glass fabric layer;

Position 4.3: Layer of solar cells;

Position 4.4: Various layers of fiberglass;

Figure 5: Display of integrated solar cells in the laminate under the gelcoat

Position 5.1: Gel coat, varnish or other final coating;

Position 5.2: Layer of solar cells;

Item 5.3: Various layers of fiberglass;

A detailed description of at least one way of realizing the invention

When integrating solar cells into the hull laminate, it is necessary to carry out the technological lamination process according to the rules of the profession, and it is also possible to cover the already existing elements of the vessel's hull made of various materials with a fiberglass layer. In the continuation of the presentation, the ways of using the invention are mentioned.

Lamination in the mold:

1. Coat the mold with a release agent

2. Apply a layer of gelcoat of transparent color. This layer of gelcoat can be omitted depending on project requirements.

3. Apply a layer of resin

4. Place the first layer of glass fabric. If there is a layer of gelcoat, this layer of glass fabric can be omitted.

5. Apply a layer of resin

6. Place a layer of solar cells, making sure that the electrical contacts are uninterrupted

7. Apply a layer of resin

8. Place the second and every subsequent layer of glass fabric, or laminate, with an intermediate layer of resin. Instead of glass fabric, it is possible to put core sponge material in individual layers. It is necessary to ensure that the electrical contacts of all solar cells are accessible, i.e. that they protrude in front of the laminate layers.

9. Connect the solar cells to the solar modules according to the predefined electrical scheme, taking into account the primary and secondary connections and all the electrical elements of the solar module.

The lamination process can also be carried out by vacuum infusion, making sure that the created vacuum does not damage the salt cells. The possibility of this technological procedure is ensured so that the procedures under points 1 - 6 are carried out as stated, and then within point 8 the technology of vacuum infusion is made.

Covering the surfaces of vessels made of other materials in fiberglass:

1. Make passages (drill holes) in the existing material for passage of electrical contacts of solar cells.

2. Prepare the surface for better adhesion of the material. Depending on the material, the surface will need to be degreased, sanded, and a bonding layer applied.

3. Apply a layer of resin

4. Place the first and each subsequent layer of glass fabric, or laminate, with an intermediate layer of resin. Apply a layer of resin

5. Place the layer of solar cells, making sure that the electrical contacts are unbroken and that they are threaded through pre-made passages in the existing hull material.

6. Apply a layer of resin

7. Apply the final layer of glass fabric, or several layers.

8. Smooth the surface by applying a transparent material and sand it. Therefore, take care of the transparency of the surface and make sure that the solar cells are not damaged.

9. Connect the solar cells to the solar modules according to the predefined electrical scheme, taking into account the primary and secondary connections and all the electrical elements of the solar module.

Claims (5)

1. Solar cells integrated into the fiberglass hull of the vessel, indicated by the fact that the layers of solar cells (4.3, 5.2) are integrated into one of, as a rule, the first layers of the fiberglass laminate (1.2) during the construction of a new vessel, as well as when sheathing in fiberglass vessels already built from other materials, whereby the fiberglass consists of glass fabric and resins as a binding material, so that the solar cells form a whole with the laminate. 2. Solar cells integrated into the fiberglass shell of the boat hull according to patent claim 1, characterized by the fact that the layers of solar cells (4.3, 5.2) can be laid between any two layers of fiberglass laminate (1.2), taking care to achieve the optimum since more outer layers in front of the solar cells form a better mechanical protection of the solar cells, while fewer layers let more solar energy through. 3. Solar cells integrated into the fiberglass hull of the vessel according to patent claim 1, characterized by the fact that the layers of solar cells (4.3, 5.2) are most often located between the first and second layers of glass fabric. 4. Solar cells integrated into the fiberglass shell of the hull of the vessel according to the previous patent claims, indicated by the fact that the glass fabric consists of threads that can also be made of carbon, Kevlar or some other material intended for construction in fiberglass, while the resin as a binding material can be of different composition and the best known are polyester, vinylester and epoxy. 5. Solar cells integrated into the fiberglass hull of the vessel according to the previous patent claims, indicated by the fact that the solar cells are multiple connected to each other in series and in parallel thus forming certain voltage modules, which are further connected to the energy system of the ship via an electrical element.