INFLATABLE SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTOR
The inflatable solar energy collector includes an inflatable cell supported in a frame. The frame may be adjustable to maximize the angle of exposure for the inflatable cell. Each inflatable cell includes an outer, transparent bladder and an inner, blackened bladder. A central partition runs through both inner and outer bladders to be mounted to the frame. The central partition maintains the inflatable cell taut on the frame. Both bladders include at least one vent hole, and at least the inner bladder has openings for air inlet and air outlet to define and control flow of medium therein. When inflated, the medium inside the inner bladder heats up from solar energy, and the heated medium is passed on for use. The inflated outer bladder provides insulation for the inner bladder. A plurality of inflatable solar energy collectors may be arranged in an array.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/282,202, filed Dec. 29, 2009.
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to energy producing devices, and more specifically to an inflatable solar energy collector providing a cost-effective solution for an alternative energy resource.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ARTWorldwide energy consumption is a major environmental and economic concern in today's climate. Much of the available energy is derived from finite resources such as fossil fuels that produce tons of harmful wastes in the process. These wastes contribute to pollution and increased greenhouse effects. Nuclear power is another source, but the process produces radioactive wastes that can linger for thousands of years. Moreover, disposal of such wastes poses great environmental risks to the area of the waste site.
Solar, wind and wave energy are some alternative sources that have not been fully employed due to economic costs, location or other concerns. With respect to solar power, the typical solar cells tend to be relatively inefficient and expensive for most homes and businesses. In light of the above, it would be a benefit in the art to provide an alternative, cost effective energy source with minimal environmental impact.
Thus, an inflatable solar energy collector solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe inflatable solar energy collector includes an inflatable cell supported in a rigid frame. The frame may be adjustable to maximize the angle of exposure for the inflatable cell. Each inflatable cell includes an outer, transparent bladder and an inner, blackened bladder. A central partition runs through both inner and outer bladders to be mounted to the frame. Due to the mounting, the central partition maintains the inflatable cell taut on the frame. Both bladders include at least one vent hole, and at least the inner bladder has openings for air inlet and air outlet to define and control flow of medium therein. When inflated, the medium inside the inner bladder heats up from solar energy, and the heated medium is passed on for use. The inflated outer bladder provides insulation for the inner bladder. A plurality of inflatable solar energy collectors may be arranged in an array.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSThe present invention relates to an inflatable solar energy collector, generally referred to by reference number 10, which provides a highly cost effective alternative energy source in comparison to other typical solar cells. As shown in
Turning to
Since the inflatable solar energy collector 10 utilizes the sun, it should be installed in such a way as to maximize exposure to the sun. In that regard, the frame for the inflatable solar energy collector 10 may include lower support legs or members 11 and adjustable upper support legs or members 12 pivotally mounted on portions of the top and bottom frame members 14 between the outer and inner side frame members 13, 16. Each of the support members 11, 12 may include articulated, self-adjusting footpads to stably set the inflatable solar energy collector 10 on a given surface. To set the collector 10 at an angle for maximum exposure, the upper support members 12 may be adjusted in the direction indicated by arrow 18, as shown in
Turning to
The placement of the inlet 25, the outlet 26 and the vents 24 has an effect on the inflation efficiency of the outer bladder 21 when directly inflated from the inner bladder 22 via the inlet 25. Preferably, the outlet 26 should be placed near the far opposite end from the inlet 25 so that the incoming medium can disperse in as much area as possible, i.e., maximal distribution. It is noted that it is not necessary to have the outlet 26 aligned with the inlet 25 as long as they span a major length of the inner and outer bladder construction, depending upon the shape. As for the vents 24, in order to ensure proper inflation of the outer bladder 21 from the inner bladder 22, the vents 24 should be disposed close to the outlet 26. It has been found that if the vent 24 is close to the inlet 25, the inner bladder 22 will not inflate properly. For optimum performance, the vent 24 should be placed at least half the distance or more toward the outlet 26.
For maximal heating, the inner bladder 22 is preferably blackened, colored, and/or made with heat absorbing materials to enhance heating the air within the inflatable cell 20. However, the examples shown in
As mentioned above, the inflatable solar energy collector 10 may include a variety of alternative configurations of the inflatable cell 20, as exemplified in
Referring to
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For finer control, the thermal energy circulation system 50 includes at least additional third and fourth control valves 60, 62, at least one bypass valve 64, a plurality of temperature sensors 66 and/or a plurality of pressure sensors 68. The various control valves 56, 58, 60, 62 may be selectively operated to direct airflow in the desired direction in the system 50. The information generated by the temperature and pressure sensors 66, 68 placed along the lines and system components may be used to modify the direction and rate of airflow. This helps to adapt utilization of the heated medium, depending upon current heat production, and to maximize the use thereof. The bypass valve 64 may be used to relieve pressure in the lines when the pressure is above predetermined levels.
The inflatable solar energy collector 10 is an economic device for producing energy. The inflatable bladder 20 is made from durable thermally efficient plastic for ease of manufacture and maintenance. Moreover, the inflatable bladder 20 may be made to be more rigid to utilize fluid medium.
It is to be understood that the inflatable solar collector 10 encompasses a variety of alternatives. For example, the inflatable solar collector 10 may include an additional or second inner bladder enclosed within the inflatable inner bladder 22. This second inner bladder may be formed as an upper bladder, lower bladder or both similar to the first inner bladder 22. With such an arrangement, the second inner bladder may be blackened, colored or made with heat absorptive materials for heating the air replacing the function of the first inner bladder 22 in the previous embodiments. As a result, the first inner bladder may include portion(s) that are clear. In this manner, the space between the two inner bladders provides additional insulation. For increased heat production, both the inlet 25 and outlet 26 may also be blackened, colored or made with heat absorption materials.
Another variation of the second inner bladder involves forming the same into baffles or heat exchangers similar to the baffles mentioned above with respect to
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. An inflatable solar energy collector, comprising at least one inflatable cell adapted to be mounted to a frame, the inflatable cell having:
- a transparent outer inflatable bladder;
- an inner inflatable bladder disposed inside the outer inflatable bladder, at least a portion of the inner inflatable bladder having a solar absorbent surface;
- an inlet extending through the outer bladder and into the inner bladder, the inlet being adapted for filling the inner bladder with a medium; and
- an outlet extending from the inner bladder through the outer bladder, the outlet being adapted for discharging the medium outside the cell, the inner bladder having least one vent near the outlet for introducing the medium from the inner bladder to the outer bladder in order to inflate the outer bladder;
- wherein the medium flowing through the inflatable cell is heated by solar energy to produce usable energy.
2. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 1, further comprising an adjustable frame, said cell being mounted on the frame for supporting said inflatable cell in an optimum position for absorbing the solar energy.
3. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 2, wherein said adjustable frame comprises:
- a pair of laterally spaced side frame members, a top frame member and a bottom frame member, the frame members each having an attachment bar for holding said inflatable cell taut therebetween;
- at least one lower support leg pivotally mounted to the bottom frame member; and
- at least one adjustable upper support leg pivotally mounted to the top frame member, the at least one adjustable upper support leg being extendable to selectively adjust angular orientation of said inflatable cell with respect to the sun.
4. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 3, further comprising an articulated, self-adjusting footpad disposed on said at least one lower support leg and said at least one upper support leg to stabilize said adjustable frame on a surface.
5. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 2, wherein said at least one inflatable cell comprises a plurality of said inflatable cells, each of the cells being mounted within its own corresponding said adjustable frame, said cells being arranged in rows.
6. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 1, wherein said heat absorbent surface is made from a material selected from the group consisting of black, colored, and heat-absorbing materials.
7. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 6, further comprising a partition extending through said inner bladder and said outer bladder to bisect said inner bladder and said outer bladder into respective halves, said partition having at least one vent extending between the halves of said inner bladder to permit flow of the medium between the halves, and at least one vent extending between the halves of said outer bladder to permit flow of the medium between the halves.
8. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 7, further comprising a plurality of inflatable baffles extending within said inner bladder between said inlet and said outlet, the baffles having a scallop shape to provide a larger surface area for heating the medium.
9. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 8, wherein said plurality of baffles vary in size from small to large from the center of said inner bladder outwards to ensure even medium flow through said baffles.
10. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 6, further comprising a partition extending through said outer bladder to bisect said outer bladder into halves, said inner bladder being disposed completely on one side of said partition, said partition having at least one vent extending between said inner bladder and said outer bladder to permit flow of the medium between said inner bladder and said outer bladder, said partition having at least one vent extending between the halves of said outer bladder to permit flow of the medium between the halves of said outer bladder.
11. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 10, further comprising a separate medium inlet disposed in said outer bladder.
12. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 1, wherein portions of said outer bladder include a reflective surface to concentrate solar rays onto said inner bladder.
13. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 1, wherein portions of said inner bladder without a solar absorbent surface are transparent.
14. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 1, further comprising the medium, the medium being air.
15. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 1, further comprising a thermal energy circulation system connected to said at least one inflatable cell for converting heated medium into usable energy.
16. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 15, wherein said thermal energy circulation system comprises:
- a plurality of medium flow lines for directing the medium through the system;
- a pump connected to the flow lines for circulating the medium through the system;
- a plurality of selectively operable control valves disposed in the flow lines for selectively defining flow paths of the medium;
- a thermal storage connected to the flow lines for storing excess heat;
- a heat exchanger connected to the flow lines for transferring heat from the medium to a locale where the heat is used as an energy source;
- a plurality of temperature sensors disposed at select locations along the flow lines to monitor temperature of the medium therein;
- a plurality of pressure sensors at select locations along the flow lines to monitor pressure of the medium therein; and
- a controller connected to the valves and the pump for controlling operations of the control valves and the pump based upon information from the temperature and pressure sensors to insure efficient heat production within predefined parameters.
17. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 16, further comprising at least one bypass valve operable by said controller to relieve excess pressure in said flow lines.
18. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 16, wherein said pump is a variable speed pump.
19. The inflatable solar energy collector according to claim 1, wherein said at least a portion of the inner inflatable bladder having a solar absorbent surface comprises at least half of the inner inflatable bladder.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 17, 2010
Publication Date: Jun 30, 2011
Inventor: JAN PIOTROWSKI (Fairfax, VA)
Application Number: 12/885,231
International Classification: F24J 2/36 (20060101);