CHeaP project has the target of producing an electrical power generator for motor caravans using the on board fuels. The generator has been developed during the two years of the project passing from the prototype to the final product ready for commercialization. Named ZEUS 150, it is based on thermoelectric technology that allows a direct conversion of the heat produced by combustion into electrical energy. The system is designed to keep the batteries of the vehicle charged with low fuel consumption and limiting the operating noise.
The activities of the two years have been mainly focused on the optimization of the system performances and on the engineering of the production process. These required a hard work to overcome the limits imposed by the technology chosen and the market challenges. Indeed, generators based on different solutions are already available on the market, so higher performances, more reliability and low price are needed to be competitive and match the customers’ needs.
The first year of the project, lead to the DEFINITION OF DESIGN PARAMETERS/CONSTRAINTS: a list of targeted parameters to achieve. They are originated by three aspects: technical, normative (particularly environmental) and socio-economic (users’ point of view about the performances and easiness to use of the system). The so identified parameters are:
- GENERATED ELECTRIC POWER, which is the main target for the generator performances and is fixed at 100 Wh of neat electrical power, with the possibility to improve it with a modular system.
- COMPONENTS ARRANGEMENT AND OPTIMIZATION that drive also the DIMENSIONS and the WEIGHT of the generator, which has to be easy to carry and stow;
- POLLUTION, EMISSIONS AND NOISE LIMITS, because the CHeaP generator aim to be a green and silent solution
- MAINTENANCE and RELIABILITY, the control and interface SOFTWARE, the assistance SERVICE and the COST: all parameters that make of the CHeaP generator an appealing product for the end user.
The second year was the main one with regard to the technical development of the device and its makeover to the final marketable product. First with its ENGINEERING and the optimization of all the components of the generator, then with the CONTROL TESTS, both in stand-alone and in working conditions. The engineering has been successfully concluded during the first year of activity and the result is the first integrated prototype. The activities of the second year have been addressed in the redefinition of all the processes involved in the power generation in order to achieve the target of self-sustenance of the system in terms of energy consumption. This process of optimization allowed a further improvement of performances of the generator moving the power target from the initial 100Wh to the actual 150Wh. New solutions was also required to achieve the established cost for unit: only the results obtained, in fact, allow the commercialization of the final product in the price range defined at the beginning of the project. At the end of the project, a first stock of 10 generators has been produced for the sale and a market plan has been scheduled for the production of a starting series of 100 units.
During the two years, also the DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES were conducted, even if the generator was still not complete as a product. The target of dissemination was to let operators working on the caravans market known the project idea and perspective, creating a basis for the product distribution. The activities included, most of all, exhibitions, publications and online advertisement. Mobil Tech produced informative as well as business-oriented communication material and used it for dissemination purposes (publications, web site contents and exhibition distributable material). The project logo and an Italian flyer have been created to update the Mobil Tech web site with a presentation of the project goals and partners. During these years, Mobil Tech published on magazines of the sector reports on the state of art of the project, with both informative and business-oriented aim, and attended one European exhibition and an international conference to spread the CHeaP results among customers and possible stakeholders. Recently, demonstrations for the press and for technical operators have been organized to promote the final product. A stage for a restricted number of initial installer has been also planned for the month of October, for the release of the first stock of generators to the market.
