The German company SINN Power has gained wide popularity in Europe since 2015 as a developer of the most innovative and unusual energy systems. Over the past five years, the Bavarians have successfully supplied solar, wind and wave generators and batteries to the market. And in 2020, they patented the technology of a unique offshore platform that can operate on all three types of alternative energy – the sun, wind and sea waves – simultaneously.
Heavy Duty Modular Assembly Platform Design
Structurally, the new concept is a huge platform-type generator floating in the ocean of three components.
- The lower level is a semi-aquatic complex of floats . Provide buoyancy to the platform. Each of them receives energy from sea waves.
- The middle level is a system of solar panels deployed on the platform . Effectively collect and convert solar radiation into electric current.
- Upper level . Wind generators in the corners of the module in the form of small turrets. They contribute their share of the total generation from the winds blowing over the sea surface.
The weight of the platform is large enough, and the buoyancy is so good that on waves with a height of about 6 meters, the amplitude of oscillations of the moving floats does not exceed 3 meters.
Each of the four floats of one modular section of 12 × 12 meters is capable of generating up to 24 kW of electricity in ideal conditions. The total power of the photovoltaic surface of the same section is 20 kW. Finally, the performance of corner wind generators reaches 6 kW. Thus, in clear sunny weather, wind of about 10 m/s and waves of 3-4 points, one module can theoretically produce 24 × 4 + 20 + 6 × 4 = 140 kW per hour. In practice, the performance is always less, but even at night with complete calm it will not be zero.
Design features use LEGO building principles. Thanks to such a simple but effective solution, the number of sections in the platform can be any, and they can be connected in any order.
Power is transferred to the shore via a cable.
Manufacturers plans
In the summer of 2020 (the dates were forced to be shifted due to the coronavirus), SINN Power plans to hold the first official demonstration of the capabilities of its offspring. Test tests will be carried out in the Cretan Sea (Greece), not far from the capital of Crete, the city of Heraklion.
The main goal of the company from Bavaria is to demonstrate how profitable and energy efficient the use of such platforms in sea and ocean coastal waters will be. At the same time, the central part of the structure is a truss that allows you to place solar panels of any type on them.
CEO of the company, Philippe Sinn, in particular stated the following: “From the moment we started developing marine alternative energy technologies, the modularity of our systems has immediately become their key parameter. It was she who made it possible to combine the simplicity and functionality of floating farms. SINN Power. Our platforms are able to provide energy, for example, to island resorts from three alternative sources at once. And subsequently become the reason for the spread of offshore power plants of this type around the world..
SINN Power was the first company to offer such a flexible and versatile three-way energy solution (sea waves + sun + wind). Due to their unique capabilities, the unit cost per kilowatt of such platforms is lower than that of other technologies. The same applies to low sensitivity to the climatic conditions of different regions.
If the interest of customers is attracted, the use of SINN Power offshore platforms can become another effective solution for using energy from alternative renewable sources.