Tempco has engineered a special thermoregulation unit with an extremely wide range of operating conditions, for implementation in an innovative cogeneration system, powered by a CSP, concentrated solar power, system: the DiGeSPo project was developed by FBK, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, embracing the research and building of a modular 1-2 kWe, 3-9 kWth micro cogeneration system, based on concentrated solar power using Stirling engines technology, external combustion engines using temperature’s gap in a thermal fluid to obtain mechanical drive of the piston. The solar powered micro cogeneration unit will be able to supply electricity and heat/cooling to single and multiple domestic dwellings, but also to commercial, industrial and public buildings.

The DiGeSPo project employs a very special high temperatures diathermic oil thermoregulation unit, developed especially by Tempco in collaboration with the renewable energy related solutions section of the technical development department of FBK. The project was a big challenge for Tempco, fully committing the whole Tempco technical team in order to find products and resources in a sector usually not covered, just marginally. Thanks to the joint effort, a special thermoregulation unit has been developed, with high satisfaction of the customer, being able to work with an unseen flexibility level, breaking the working standards usually featured in this kind of thermal machine.

The thermoregulation unit has indeed an extremely wide working range, on three factor levels:

• load
• temperature
• thermal capacity

Using sophisticated controllers, the unit allows continuous variations of the three parameters, in a range going from a maximum value to a point near to zero, giving nonstop and controlled accurate feedbacks, in order to carefully analyze the power supplied to the solar system paired with the Stirling engine, in the energy production simulation tests phase.

The DiGeSPo solution has a solar power plant based on a series of small 40 cm parabolic dishes as optic concentrators with moving and tracking components, that concentrate the solar radiation on absorbers in the form of evacuated tube collectors. A thermal fluid flows through the collectors, ensuring the thermal transfer, and is then heated up to 250-350 °C, allowing the functioning of a Stirling engine with generator, co-generating electricity and heat, as a heat recovery module is also integrated recovering the engine’s heat. A heating and cooling system completes the whole solar cogeneration project. The target of the solar powered cogeneration system is to achieve 60-70% of global efficiency, compared to incident solar radiation.

DiGeSPo intends to incorporate the small thermodynamic solar powered and hybrid system into residential buildings, in an architecturally low impact manner, in order to generate heat and electricity. A supplier companies board has been formed for the monitoring and the development of the project, ensuring the best engineering suitable for end users installation.