Feasibility analysis of a wind turbine with photovoltaic piezoelectric characteristic

The thesis work is part of the research and development of innovative materials for renewable energy and in particular, composites, which in recent years have been receiving special attention from the world of clean energy. During this thesis were studied tensions problems connected with the structural stability of artifacts in the composite fabric and the possibility of realizing a wind turbine with photovoltaic-piezoelectric characteristics. The study developed on three levels: materials research, structural analysis and feasibility of the project. The aim of the thesis focuses primarily on the study of innovative composite materials and the possible applications of these materials. For the purpose of this thesis is to propose a new idea that combines the use of composite materials no longer as simple structure of an artifact, but as an active part of an object. The basic idea taken up by the proposed Renzo Piano adding sections to the structure of composite material with photovoltaic-piezoelectric characteristics, managing to increase the production of energy without neglecting the structural stability of the artifacts in the composite. The research phase of materials addressed through a literature search that allowed the thesis project to meet a multitude of innovative materials. In particular, the thesis has focused on the possibility of using a photovoltaic-piezoelectric fiber as a functional part of the composite fabric, incorporated in a novel textile called "tetraxial." The positive results obtained from the analysis of the structures considered to have led to propose the design of an innovative composite based on a reinforcement tetraxial combined with a characteristics photovoltaic-piezoelectric fiber, which can act not only as passive part of the wind turbine but especially as active participants. This will provide an additional power source for increasing the efficiency of the wind turbine. Subsequently these proposals and these configurations have been tested and verified, thanks to the support of wind resource survey, based on the study of the wind, which has allowed the study of theory to hypothesize the best placement of the wind turbine. The results obtained from the simulations carried out by means of special interactive maps of the wind are satisfactory. In the future, it is possible to extend the analysis carried out during the thesis work to other facilities to experiment with new materials. The realization of a composite similar to that proposed in the activity of theses could allow the creation of a series of applications that, by exploiting the unusual properties, would have advantageous characteristics under different points of view, compared to conventional composites. During the entire project, has tried to facilitate the possible design stage.