Combined sun-wind mechanisms: from solar towers to generator buildings

The contribute concerns, in particular, the description of systems for the production of clean energy by exploiting the movement of solar hot air-flows, so-called solar towers. The projects that considered in the first part are connected not only by their working principles but, also, by the scale of the project. In fact, they are “power plants” situated in mostly dry and arid areas, with an energy output which starts from 50 KW of the prototype in Manzanares, reaching a hypothetical production of around 100-200 MW. In the second part of this contribution, some design applications of building scale combined sun-wind mechanisms will be show. The implementation of combined solar-wind technology on a building-scale adds further complexity, also considering that energy efficiency does not guarantee the fulfilment of living/business comfort for the users of the building. In fact, the projects examined integrate the chimney system with a number of strategies to control the indoor microclimate, both active or passive, so as to make the living conditions more appropriate to the climatic context. A further element of complexity is their technological and architectural integration. The application of innovative technologies requires a design approach that is strongly oriented to a systemic view of the building – power plant, in its active and passive elements. A vision that implies an appropriate re-definition of the objectives and strategies when working on existing buildings as well as the need to define and investigate what constraints these buildings pose to the context in which they occur.