Preliminary investigation of a novel solar and wind energy extraction system

Abstract

A novel solar and wind energy extraction system is proposed and described in this article. The system is a combination of the solar chimney and tornado-type wind tower, with the wind tower installed at the exit of the solar chimney. The proposed system can considerably increase the driving force in the chimney using high-elevation wind energy. The higher the wind speed, the greater the driving force. This will lead to an obvious rise in maximum power output of the novel system. Theoretical models of this novel system are also developed, and the calculated results agree well with the numerical simulations. It is found that the pressure deficit produced by the tornado-type wind tower plays a key role in the increase of the power output. By using the high-elevation wind energy, this novel system can considerably alleviate the difficulty of constructing a gigantic concrete chimney in the solar chimney system.