Renewable Energy&Company. &Innovations
(The sequel of the Project Summary � Part 2)


The technology also comprises the "know-how" allowing to practically eliminate friction loss during reverse motion in one-way clutchs of a mechanical converter. The technological level of complexity of the last is low and is approximately at the level of technical complexity of a bicycle that provides high reliability and durability of offered devices, as well as low cost of assembly, maintenance and repair. What is even more attractive is the fact that in comparison with competitors, it is possible to place both industrial and dwelling premises, including country houses, hotels and industrial shops, as well as helicopter and plane sites, on frames of big-sized floating platforms.

The mechanical converter transforms energy of waves to energy of low-speed rotating shaft with torque of 104-106 �*�, rotating with speed of 1-10 rot. /s. It is possible to use such enormous torque for rotating standard electric generators through raising transfer mechanisms, as well as directly for a drive, such as, for example, stone-crushers, or a great variety of other devices demanding a drive from a rotating shaft.

For usually unstable natural energy sources the problem of prime importance is accumulation, storage of energy. Generally, for these purposes storage batteries are used. For wave power installations we recommend accumulation of energy both in accumulators and in gyroscopic stores, or by using energy for some industrial production in its turn providing energy under certain conditions.

Nowadays, hydrogen made through electrolysis is considered a most promising such product. For electrolysis it is possible to directly use unstable chaotically fluctuating in time capacity of electric current. That is to say that it is enough to connect an electric generator to an output shaft of wave power installation and to feed straightened voltage directly to an electrolysis device. The hydrogen power industry is today intensively developed, for example, by such automobile giants as BMW, Mercedes and Volvo, thus making the use of wave power installations for large-scale production of hydrogen most promising.

The problem of durability of a power installation frame has been thoroughly elaborated so that the platform could withstand an impact of any storm and be unsinkable (probably, even during bombing). It is achieved taking into consideration the following requirements when constructing a frame:
1. A three-dimensional, volumetric force design of a rectangular structure with obligatory presence of diagonal power force elements;
2. Elements of a frame are made serially of steel tubes, channels and angle bar of the necessary section; connection of elements - with the help of stop units and platforms with connection by large bolts and screws; thus the frame is made of prefabricated elements and an installation cans easily be mounted at the operation site by a team of several assemblers.
3. The frame is made transparent for free passage of waves and wind � thus minimizing storm loading on a frame, which will be hundreds times less than, for example, on ships cases;
4. Buoyancy is provided due to application of pontoons, for example, in the form of steel tubes of necessary diameters tightly closed from end faces and filled for reliability with foam plastic (or foamy polyurethane, but it is more expensive); tubes are located both horizontally and vertically at the necessary depth that will allow to adjust the position of a waterline;
5. The horizontal sizes of a frame are should not exceed its height more than 8-15 times.

The values of wave loading on units of a suspension bracket of floats and elements of a frame for the calculation of their durability are easily estimated considering sizes and form of the given units and well-known Arhimed and hydrodynamics laws.

Why a large installation is more effective in comparison with a small one?

It is possible to explain it as follows: capacity is proportional to the total area occupied by all floats on a water surface, and proportional to a square of wave height. Let us consider two installations of identical area. The first is designed for the maximal height of waves of 2 m (for the Azov sea, for example), and the second � for the height of waves of 6 m, i.e. 3 times higher (for example, for the Mediterranean sea). The height of floats, a frame and other elements, and accordingly, material consumption and the cost of manufacturing of the second installation will be approximately 3 times higher than the cost of the first one. Its maximal capacity at certain height of waves will be not 3, but 9 times higher than of the first.

Hence, and cost of one watt of the maximal installation capacity will be 3 times lower than of the first one.

Thus, profitability and times of repayment directly depend on specific height of waves in possible operation areas. For example, the same installation can pay back in 1,5-2 years of operation at the Black sea, and at the Pacific coast of Japan, Australia, at Southern coast of Africa or in the Atlantic ocean the same installation can be paid back in 2-3 months. And in regions where sea roughness is usually too weak, wave installations will not be paid back at all. The same is true concerning wind and solar power installations, which will never be paid back in the absence of wind or sunlight, accordingly.

Therefore, with the purpose of cost reduction and acceleration of self-repayment of installations, for different areas it is necessary to make the installations designed for the maximal average height of waves in these areas.

For the greater commercial attractiveness the first experimental installation should be tested in areas with intensive sea roughness to show its efficiency and short repayment period.


(The Sequel of this Article you can find with the help of References in the Top of the Page � see Part 3)