Patent Application
20140261633
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric generating device, especially to a composite photothermal electric generating device capable of converting photo energy and thermal energy into electric energy.
2. Description of Related Art
The natural resources contained in mother earth are running out, and a resource crisis may occur is the foreseeable further, that is why people are getting more concerned about such issue and have the energy saving concept in minds. For dealing with such issue, besides saving existed energy resource, developing alternative resource is also an important lesson. As such, the daylight which is inexhaustible in supply is the best solution for the alternative resource development.
The daylight can provide photo energy and thermal energy, and skilled people in the art have developed many photoelectric converting devices and thermoelectric converting devices which can be respectively utilized to convert the photo energy and the thermal energy into electric energy. For example, a conventional solar panel is a photoelectric converting device which can be utilized to convert the photo energy provided by daylight into electric energy; for example, the solar powered stirling engine disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,990 is a thermoelectric converting device which utilizes a disc-shaped thermal collector for collecting the thermal energy provided by daylight, and utilizes a stirling engine to convert the thermal energy provided by daylight into electric energy.
The daylight illumination provides both of the photo energy and the thermal energy at the same time, however, the prior art can only convert single type of energy contained in the same amount of daylight (e.g. converting the photo energy into electric energy or converting the thermal energy into electric energy), the photo energy and the thermal energy contained in the same amount of daylight cannot be both converted into electric energy, e.g. a conventional solar panel can only convert the photo energy into electric energy, the temperature of the solar panel is raised after receiving the thermal energy of daylight, but the conventional solar panel is unable to convert the absorbed thermal energy into electric energy, thereby providing a poor energy converting efficiency.
In view of the disadvantages of prior art, the applicant of the present invention has devoted himself for solving the disadvantages mentioned above.
The present invention is to provide a composite photothermal electric generating device capable of converting the photo energy and the thermal energy of daylight into electric energy.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a composite photothermal electric generating device which includes a thermal insulation housing, a thermal collecting unit, an electric generating module and a solar panel. The thermal insulation housing is opened, including an opening and formed with a penetrated hole. The thermal collecting unit is disposed in the thermal insulation housing and arranged corresponding to the location of the opening, and at least a portion of the thermal collecting unit is arranged corresponding to the location of the penetrated hole. The electric generating module includes a stirling engine and an electric generator, the stirling engine is adhered to the thermal collecting unit via the penetrated hole, and the power of the stirling engine is connected to the electric generator. The solar panel is disposed in the opening, covered and in contact with the thermal collecting unit.
Preferably, the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device further includes an inverter electrically connected to the electric generator.
Preferably, the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device further includes an inverter electrically connected to the solar panel.
Preferably, in the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device, the stirling engine includes a hot side and a cold side spaced away from the hot side, and the hot side is adhered to the thermal collecting unit.
Preferably, the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device further includes a thermal dissipating unit disposed at the cold side and thermally connected to the cold side.
Preferably, in the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device, the thermal dissipating unit includes a thermal dissipating fin set.
Preferably, in the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device, the thermal collecting unit includes an evacuated solar collector tube.
Preferably, in the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device, the thermal collecting unit includes a flat plate solar collector, the flat plate solar collector includes a metal coiled pipe, and the metal coiled pipe is in contact with the solar panel.
Preferably, the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device further includes an optimizer and an inverter, the optimizer is electrically connected to the electric generator, and the inverter is electrically connected to the optimizer.
Preferably, the mentioned composite photothermal electric generating device further includes an optimizer and an inverter, the optimizer is electrically connected to the solar panel, and the inverter is electrically connected to the optimizer.
With the practice of the composite photothermal electric generating device provided by the present invention, the solar panel is utilized to convert the photo energy of daylight into electric energy, and the thermal collecting unit is enabled to drive the stirling engine to drive the electric generator for converting the thermal energy of daylight into electric energy, so the composite photothermal electric generating device provided by the present invention can collect both of the photo energy and the thermal energy contained in the same amount of daylight and convert into electric energy for outputting, thereby effectively improving the disadvantages of prior art.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
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According to this embodiment, the thermal insulation housing 100 is substantially formed as a rectangular opened housing which includes an opening 110, and a bottom surface of the thermal insulation housing 100 is formed with a penetrated hole 120.
The thermal collecting unit 200 is disposed in the thermal insulation housing 100 and arranged corresponding to the location of the opening 110, and at least a portion of the thermal collecting unit 200 is arranged corresponding to the location of the penetrated hole 120 of the thermal insulation housing 100. Thermal energy provided by daylight and absorbed by the solar panel 400 is collected by the thermal collecting unit 200 which is in contact with the solar panel 400 via the opening 110. According to this embodiment, the thermal collecting unit can include a flat plate solar collector 210, the flat plate solar collector 210 includes a metal coiled pipe 211, the metal coiled pipe 211 is in contact with the solar panel 400 via the opening 110, the interior of the metal coiled pipe is filled with a working fluid (e.g. water), a pump 212 is installed on the metal coiled pipe 211, and the pump 212 is communicated with the metal coiled pipe 211, thereby the working fluid in the metal coiled pipe 211 being enabled to be driven by the pump 212 for circulatively flowing. In addition, please refer to
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The solar panel 400 is disposed in the opening 110, and preferably covered the thermal collecting unit 200. One surface of the solar panel 400 is defined as a receiving surface 410, the receiving surface 410 is oriented to face the exterior of the thermal insulation housing 100, the solar panel 400 utilizes the receiving surface 410 to absorb the photo energy (preferably from the daylight) and the absorbed photo energy is inverted to DC current, and preferably, the solar panel 400 is electrically connected an inverter 520, so the DC current can be inverted to AC current through the inverter 520. Preferably, the electric generator 520 and the solar panel 400 can be electrically connected to the same inverter 510 (520), so the DC current generated by the electric generator 320 and the solar panel 400 can be inverted to AC current through the same inverter 510 (520).
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With the practice of the composite photothermal electric generating device provided by the present invention, the solar panel 400 can be utilized to convert the photo energy of daylight into electric energy, and the thermal collecting unit 200 is enabled to drive the stirling engine 310 to drive the electric generator 320 for converting the thermal energy of daylight into electric energy, so the composite photothermal electric generating device provided by the present invention can collect both of the photo energy and the thermal energy contained in the same amount of daylight and convert into electric energy for outputting, thereby effectively improving the disadvantages of prior art.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications can still occur to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
