WO2014110665A1

WO2014110665A1 - Bi-functional wind turbine

Info

Publication number: WO2014110665A1
Application number: PCT/CA2014/000028
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean I. TCHERVENKOV
Original assignee: Tchervenkov Jean I
Priority date: 2013-01-17
Filing date: 2014-01-15
Publication date: 2014-07-24

Abstract

The present document describes a bi-functional wind turbine which allows for making use of the wind power and solar energy simultaneously when these are provided at the same time over a certain surface. The wind turbine comprises a rotation shaft; a plurality of blades attached to the rotation shaft; a generator operably connected to the rotation shaft for transforming the rotation movement of the rotation shaft into an electric current, and at least one solar panel provided on at least one of the blades for generating an electric current from the solar rays received on the solar panel.

Description

BI-FUNCTIONAL WIND TURBINE RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority from US Provisional application number 61753727 filed on January 17, 2013 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

(a) Field

[0002] The subject matter disclosed generally relates to wind turbines.

(b) Related Prior Art

[0003] There is an international tendency to limit the world's dependency on fossil fuel and coal for generating energy, in favor of renewable energy sources such as the solar energy, wind power, hydropower etc.

[0004] Apart from the pollution generated from the fuel and coal, these materials are provided in limited amounts in this planet and cannot be relied upon for building a strong economy for the generations to come. Therefore, governments of industrialized countries have been promoting the development of de-centralized energy sources. For example, by facilitating loans for residents to buy/install solar panels and wind turbines on their roofs/walls as shown in Figures 1a and 1 b, and then buying the electricity generated by these panels and turbines at relatively high prices from the residents.

[0005] The problem with the wind energy and the solar energy is that they are not always available. In other words, unless it is sunny the solar panel does not generate power. The same applies to wind turbines. Therefore, attempts have been made to make use of both sources of energy by dividing the existing space among solar panels and wind turbines, as shown in Figures 2a and 2b.

[0006] However, this configuration does not allow users to maximize their return in presence of both energy sources, especially when the available space is limited. SUMMARY

[0007] In one aspect there is provided a bi-functional wind turbine comprising: a rotation shaft; a plurality of blades operably attached to the rotation shaft; a generator operably connected to the rotation shaft for transforming the rotation movement of the rotation shaft into an electric current; at least one solar panel provided on at least one of the blades for generating an electric current from the solar rays received on the solar panel.

[0008] In one embodiment, the rotation shaft defines the generator.

[0009] In another embodiment, the wind turbine is provided on a rotating platform which is operably connected to a fin for rotating the wind turbine in accordance with a direction of the wind.

[0010] In yet another embodiment, the blades are longitudinal and attached to the rotation shaft along their longitudinal axis.

[0011] In an embodiment, the solar panel may be provided on each side of the blades.

[0012] In another embodiment, the solar panel covers substantially an entire surface of the blade on which the solar panel is provided.

[0013] In an embodiment, the solar panel is flexible and takes the form of the blade on which it is provided.

[0014] The blade may be curved to maximize use of the available wind energy.

[0015] In another embodiment, a gap may exist between the blade and the rotation shaft.

[0016] A power supply unit may be used for adjusting the current generated by the solar panels and the generator. The unit may include a battery for storing the current generated by the solar panels and the generator. [0017] In another aspect, there is provided a bi-functional wind turbine comprising: a rotation shaft; a plurality of longitudinal blades operably attached to the rotation shaft along their longitudinal axis; a flexible solar panel sheet provided on one or more blades for generating an electric current from solar rays received on the flexible solar panel; and a power supply unit operably connected to the solar panels and the rotation shaft for outputting an electric current resulting from a collection of wind energy received at the blades and sun rays received at the solar panels.

[0018] In an embodiment, the rotation shaft defines an in-wheel generator.

[0019] In another embodiment, the wind turbine further comprises a flexible solar panel on each blade.

[0020] In an embodiment, a flexible solar panel is provided on each side of each blade of the wind turbine.

[0021] Features and advantages of the subject matter hereof will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of selected embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying figures. As will be realized, the subject matter disclosed and claimed is capable of modifications in various respects, all without departing from the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the drawings and the description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive and the full scope of the subject matter is set forth in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:

[0023] Figures 1a illustrates conventional solar panel provided on the roof of a house; [0024] Figures 1 b illustrates conventional wind turbines provided on the roof of a house;

[0025] Figures 2a & 2b illustrate conventional methods for dividing an existing space between solar panels and wind turbines;

[0026] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a bi-functional wind turbine in accordance with an embodiment;

[0027] Figure 4 illustrates the direction of the wind with regard to the rotation axis, in an optimum situation;

[0028] Figure 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary power supply unit in accordance with an embodiment;

[0029] Figure 6 illustrates a side view of a blade in accordance with an embodiment;

[0030] Figure 7 illustrates a wind turbine in accordance with another embodiment;

[0031] Figure 8a illustrates an example of a bi-functional wind turbine in which the blades are provided on a generator;

[0032] Figure 8b is a side view of the bi-functional wind turbine of Figure 8a;

[0033] Figure 9 illustrates an exploded view of an exemplary wheel generator that may be used in the embodiment of Figures 8a and 8b, in accordance with an embodiment;

[0034] Figure 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary power supply unit that may be used with the embodiments of Figures 8a to 9, in accordance with an embodiment; and

[0035] Figure 11 is a top view of an exemplary rotating platform guided by a fin to rotate the platform in accordance with the direction of the wind. [0036] It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The present document describes a bi-functional wind turbine which allows for making use of the wind power and solar energy simultaneously when these are provided at the same time over a certain surface. The wind turbine comprises a rotation shaft; a plurality of blades connected to the rotation shaft; a generator operably connected to the rotation shaft for transforming the rotation movement of the rotation shaft into an electric current, and at least one solar panel provided on at least one of the blades for generating an electric current from the solar rays received on the solar panel.

[0038] In an embodiment, the blades have a longitudinal shape and are attached to the rotation shaft along their longitudinal direction, as exemplified in Figure 3.

[0039] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a bi-functional wind turbine in accordance with an embodiment. As shown in Figure 1 , the exemplary bi- functional wind turbine 100 comprises a plurality of blades 102 provided around a rotation shaft 104 and a support/chassis 106 for supporting the wind turbine 100. In the present embodiment, the blades 102 define longitudinal sheets provided around a longitudinal rotation shaft 104 in a configuration that provides optimum results when the rotation axis 104 is perpendicular to the direction of the direction of the wind as exemplified in Figure 4 (Contrary to the wind-turbines 62 shown in Figure 1 b).

[0040] In an embodiment, a solar panel 108 is provided on one or more of the blades 102, and preferably on all the blades 102. The solar panel 108 may cover a portion or preferably the entirety of the surface of the blade 102, on which the solar panel 108 is installed. For example, it is possible to use flexible solar panels sheets 108 to attach them to the blades 102. In a preferred embodiment, the solar panels 108 are provided on both sides of the blades 102 for optimum results. Accordingly, as the blade 102 rotates and the solar panel at one side of the blade 102 no longer faces the sun/light the solar panel on the opposite side of the blade 102 would start to be exposed to the sun until both sides of the subject panel become in the shade, and another blade 102 takes over to repeat the same cycle.

[0041] Accordingly, the configuration exemplified in Figure 3 allows for maximizing use of the existing solar energy over a given surface.

[0042] In operation, both the rotation shaft and the solar panels may be connected to a power supply unit 109 for generation and storage/output of electricity, in a non limiting example of implementation. Figure 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary power supply unit 109 in accordance with an embodiment.

[0043] As shown in Figure 5, the power supply unit 109 may include a generator operably connected to the rotation shaft 104 for transforming the rotation induced by the wind into an electric current. The electric current generated may be stored in a battery 1 14 or output directly for utilization or for insertion in a power network. The power supply unit 109 may optionally include an inverter/transformer 1 16 connected to the solar panels 108 for transforming the current generated by the solar panels 108 prior to storing the current in the battery 1 14 and/or outputting the current to the exterior.

[0044] It should be noted that the power supply unit 109 of Figure 5 is intended to illustrate an example of how the power may be collected and/or stored from the two sources, without limiting the embodiments to this implementation. Several modifications may be done to the power supply unit 09 which are known to someone skilled in the art. [0045] Accordingly, the bi-functional wind turbine 100 allows making use of wind power and solar energy simultaneously when these are provided at the same time. In other words, when it is sunny and windy at the same time, the wind would rotate the blades 102 around the rotation shaft 101 , and the solar panels provided on the blades may also generate an electric current simultaneously.

[0046] The number of blades 102 in a wind turbine in accordance with the present embodiments may be anywhere between 2 and 10 or more depending on the size and the available surface area of the system 100. However, when the number of blades increases their thickness must also decrease to decrease the weight and friction losses, which decreases the rigidity of the blades 102. Preferably, the number of blades is 3 or 4.

[0047] In order to reduce energy losses, the blades 102 may be curved in the middle in one embodiment. This implementation allows the wind to stay longer on the blade facing the wind with the curve while leaving the opposite blade faster due to the opposite blade(s) opposing the wind with a rounded shape that allows the air to escape faster. An example of a blade is shown in Figure 6, which illustrates a side view of a blade 102 in accordance with an embodiment. In a further embodiment, the blades may have a curved end, as exemplified in Figure 6 also to keep the wind longer on the blade to benefit more of the wind energy.

[0048] Figure 7 illustrates a wind turbine 120 in accordance with another embodiment. In the embodiment of Figure 7, the wind turbine 120 includes a plurality of blades 102 operably attached to the rotation shaft 104 using a linking member 105 which sets the blade 102 apart from the rotation shaft to define a gap 107 between the blade and the rotation shaft. The wind may escape through the gap 107 to increase the rotation speed and reduce turbulence (if the wind stays too long on the turbine). [0049] In a further embodiment, instead of rotating the blades 102 around a rotation shaft and attaching the rotation shaft to a generator, it is possible to attach the blades immediately on a generator 110, as exemplified in Figures 8a and 8b. Figure 8a illustrates an example of a bi-functional wind turbine in which the blades are provided on a generator. Figure 8b illustrates an embodiment of a generator having attached on the exterior thereof a plurality of blades in accordance with an embodiment.

[0050] Figure 9 illustrates an exploded view of an exemplary wheel motor/generator 110 that may be used in the embodiment of Figures 8a and 8b, in accordance with an embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the wheel assembly 110 comprises a wheel shaped stator 112 (aka stator unit 112) and a wheel shaped rotor 114. The rotor 114 and the stator 112 are dimensioned so that the stator 112 may be co-axially received within the rotor 114 and rotatably attached to the latter, whereby the rotor 114 may rotate around the stator 112 when the wheel assembly is in operation. The stator 112 comprises a plurality of spokes 116 co-centrically provided around a shaft/hub 118. The hub 118 may be attached to the chassis of the vehicle. As shown in Figure 9, an electromagnetic coil 117 is provided around each spoke 116 for creating a magnetic field across the exterior surface 120 of the stator 112.

[0051] Spacing may be provided between the stator 112 and the rotor 114 to avoid friction and heating.

[0052] The rotor 114 comprises a rim 122 and optionally a cylindrical chassis 124 around the rim 122. As shown in Figure 9, the rotor 114 comprises a plurality of magnets 126 (e.g. permanent magnets, rare earth magnets, neodymium magnets) provided on the inner side thereof. In an embodiment, the magnets 126 are arranged beside each other so that adjacent magnet poles have opposite polarities e.g. north, south, north, south, etc. as shown in Figure 9. The rotor 114 may be rotatably connected to the stator 112 using a bearing or the like whereby, when the rotor begins to rotate around the stator an electric current is generated in the winding/coils.

[0053] Accordingly, when the blades 102 are attached on the rotor 114 of the generator 110 as exemplified in Figure 8b, the wind power applied on the blades causes the rotor 114 to rotate around the stator 112 and generate an electric current in the coils/windings of the stator 112. This current along with the current generated by the solar panels 108 may be collected by the power supply unit 130. It should be noted that the generator embodiment described herein may utilize a plurality of stator units 112 within the rotor for selectively activating and deactivating one or more of the stators 112 to avoid overheating. In an embodiment, each stator unit may be provided with a heat sensor (not shown) that allows for reading the temperature of each stator unit 112 for switching the generation of electricity (using a control unit or computer) to another stator unit 112, thus avoiding overheating.

[0054] Figure 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary power supply unit that may be used with the embodiments of Figures 8a to 9, in accordance with an embodiment. As shown in Figure 10, the power supply unit 130 comprises a battery 132 for storing the electric current generated by the generator 110 and the solar panels 108. Optionally, the power supply unit 109 may include an inverter/transformer 134 connected to the solar panels 108 for transforming the current generated by the solar panels 108 prior to storing the current in the battery 132 and/or outputting the current to the exterior.

[0055] In an embodiment, the bi-functional wind turbine may be provided on a rotating platform and may be operably connected to a fin for rotating the wind turbine in a direction that optimizes use of the available wind power. The rotating platform may include a stationary portion which does not rotate with respect to the ground, and a rotating portion configured to rotate with respect to the stationary portion. The rotating portion may be operably attached to a fin so as to rotate with respect to the stationary portion as the wind direction changes. [0056] Figure 11 is a top view of an exemplary rotating platform guided by a fin to rotate the platform in accordance with the direction of the wind to place the wind turbine in a position that allows the blade to be substantially perpendicular to the direction of the wind. Figure 11 illustrates the rotating portion 136 connected to a fin 138 to rotate the rotating portion 136 in accordance with the direction of the wind e.g. so that the blades 102 are perpendicular to the direction of the wind, in order to maximize use of the available wind energy. The platform may be provided in different shapes and sizes without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0057] While preferred embodiments have been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made without departing from this disclosure. Such modifications are considered as possible variants comprised in the scope of the disclosure.

Claims

A bi-functional wind turbine comprising:

- a rotation shaft;

- a plurality of blades operably attached to the rotation shaft;

- a generator operably connected to the rotation shaft for transforming the rotation movement of the rotation shaft into an electric current;

- at least one solar panel provided on at least one of the blades for generating an electric current from the solar rays received on the solar panel.

The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein the rotation shaft defines the generator.

The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein the wind turbine is provided on a rotating platform which is operably connected to a fin for rotating the wind turbine in accordance with a direction of the wind.

The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein the blades are longitudinal and attached to the rotation shaft along their longitudinal axis.

The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein a solar panel is provided on each side of the at least one blade.

The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein solar panels are provided on each blade of the plurality of blades.

The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein the solar panel covers substantially an entire surface of the blade on which the solar panel is provided.

8. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein the solar panel is flexible and takes the form of the blade on which it is provided.

9. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein the blade is curved.

10. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , wherein a gap exists between the blade and the rotation shaft.

11. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 1 , further comprising a power supply unit for adjusting the current generated by the solar panels and the generator.

12. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 11 , further comprising a battery for storing the current generated by the solar panels and the generator.

13. A bi-functional wind turbine comprising:

- a rotation shaft;

- a plurality of longitudinal blades operably attached to the rotation shaft along their longitudinal axis;

- a flexible solar panel sheet provided on one or more blades for generating an electric current from solar rays received on the flexible solar panel; and

- a power supply unit operably connected to the solar panels and the rotation shaft for outputting an electric current resulting from a collection of wind energy received at the blades and sun rays received at the solar panels.

14. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 13, wherein the rotation shaft defines an in-wheel generator.

15. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 13, further comprising a flexible solar panel on each blade.

16. The bi-functional wind turbine of claim 15, wherein a flexible solar panel is provided on each side of each blade of the wind turbine.