They left Brianza to arrive in Pasadena, California, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the results of a unique project in the world in the field of thermoelectricity were demonstrated. An international patent so particular that it even takes its cue from space, so much so that it managed to capture the attention of the European Union a few years ago.
It was developed by Mobil Tech, a family-run company, with its registered office in Varedo but operating in Bovisio Masciago, in via Brughetti, which has transformed a passion for the world of motorhomes into a profession. In August last year, the company was invited to the international conference on thermoelectricity in the United States to present a power supply for caravans, campers, boats, trucks and all mobile vehicles in general, the first consumer-use generator in the world able to benefit from the thermoelectric technology, until now used for aerospace applications such as the power supply of space probes and lunar mars. After years of “do-it-yourself” experiments with thermotechnical engineers and the interface with universities, in January 2018 the patent became reality and the industrialization phase began with costs accessible to all thanks to the help of Carlo Fanciulli, researcher of the National Research Council, Massimo Puglia, president of the lsc, a Carate Brianza company specialized in energy efficiency, the engineer Massimo Cremonesi and other Lombard companies who have followed the electrical management of the system step by step.
The Zeus 150, this is the name of the silent thermoelectric generator with no carbon dioxide emissions with low environmental impact, will give the opportunity to have batteries and mobile vehicle functions always at maximum efficiency, respecting the environment and others. The owner of the company, Luca Barin, who also collaborates with his wife Maria and son Simone, graduated in electronics and telecommunications, explains the operation.
“Working in the camper sector, in particular in the development of satellite antennas for mobile use and with a view to the needs of campers, we have personally verified that the problem is that of the supply of electricity: generators are minor and are annoying, in the winter the campsites are often closed and there is no way to connect to the electricity grid, the solar panels can only be exploited in the summer. A camper must therefore sip the energy “.
The idea was therefore to create a generator that does not exploit the energy produced by a heat engine but other sources, gas, diesel, petrol or methane from the camper to generate the hot part through a burner. Then with the use of a high conductivity thermoelectric material, bismuth telluride, placed inside the delirium, electricity is generated through the temperature difference. “For the layman – concludes Barin – it means that I create heat, they exploit the gas or petrol / diesel of the vehicle, I take the cold from the outside air and putting the bismuth telluride in the middle, like a sandwich, it generates electric energy”. The generator is already in production in via Brughetti and will soon carry the name of Bovisio Masciago all over the world.
