Claims:We claim:
1. A device (100) for generating electrical energy for a vehicle, comprising:
a heat-absorbing plate (102) is adapted to absorb heat energy utilizing an external heat source;
a pyroelectric light-converting module (104) is connected to the heat-absorbing plate (102) and is adapted to receive the absorbed heat energy and convert the received heat energy into electrical energy, wherein, the pyroelectric light-converting module (104) is comprising a plurality of pyroelectric elements (110) connected to each other in an electrical configuration; and
a storage module (106) is adapted to store the electrical energy converted by the pyroelectric light-converting module (104).

2. The device (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of pyroelectric elements (110) comprising pyroelectric nanogenerators adapted to harvest thermal energy from sunlight and convert the thermal energy into electrical energy.

3. The device (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said storage module (106) comprising super-capacitor adapted to store the electrical energy generated by the pyroelectric light-converting module (104).

4. The device (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat absorbing-plate (102) comprising a thin coating of a light absorbing dark material fixedly installed to cover the heat exposed surface of the vehicle and adapted to absorb sunlight, and to produce electricity accordingly.
, Description:Complete Specification:
The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

Field of the invention:
[0001] The present invention relates to a device for generating electric energy from a light source, for a vehicle.

Background of the invention:
[0002] In general, energy for driving the conventional vehicles, derived from the combustion of fossil fuels. Due to the continuous depletion of world supply of fossil fuel and the continuous increase in both fuel cost and pollution to the environment, the use of alternate sources of energy has become an essential task.

[0003] Existing techniques include electric and hybrid vehicles which have one or more solar panels on the body to provide part of the electricity for the electric motor and/or for charging the batteries and further to any vehicle including one or more solar panels that provide electrical power to a vehicle accessory, such as a radio or the vehicle's heating, ventilating and air conditioning system. However, these techniques are not capable to absorb a major portion of the sunlight available

[0004] Other techniques used wind turbines to generate electricity to charge the batteries where these turbines are placed on the top of the vehicle. Such action ignores most of the useful wind streams surrounding the vehicle, especially the very important right side and left side wind streams, and increases drag forces on the vehicle, hence, reducing the effective electric power generated from the wind turbine's generator.

[0005] Hence, there is a need for an efficient energy saving solution, which can sufficiently absorb the conversion of solar energy into electrical energy stored, for use when needed, as an auxiliary power source to a vehicle.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings:
[0006] An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawing;
[0007] Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a device for generating electric energy for a vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a device (100) for generating electric energy for a vehicle. The device (100) includes a heat-absorbing plate (102), a pyroelectric light-converting module (104) and a storage module (106). Each component is described in further detail below.

[0009] The heat-absorbing plate (102) is adapted to absorb heat energy utilizing an external heat source. In one example, the heat source may be represented by the Sun, which emits radiation across most of the electromagnetic spectrum. Further the heat-absorbing plate (102) is adapted to emit maximized of the absorbed heat energy. In an embodiment, the heat-absorbing plate (102) is comprising a thin coating of a light absorbing dark material and fixedly installed to cover the heat exposed surface of the vehicle. In an example, the heat-absorbing plate (102) is adapted, to absorb sunlight, and to produce electricity accordingly. In addition, the example of the dark material may include aligned carbon nanotubes, to absorb maximum of the sunlight. Furthermore, the maximized heat energy emitted from the heat-absorbing plate (102), is received by the pyroelectric light-converting module (104).

[0010] The pyroelectric light-converting module (104) is connected to the heat-absorbing plate (102) and is adapted to receive the absorbed heat energy. The pyroelectric light-converting module (104) is further adapted to convert the received heat energy into electrical energy. The pyroelectric light-converting module (104) further include a plurality of pyroelectric elements (110) connected to each other in an electrical configuration. In one embodiment, the pyroelectric elements are pyroelectric nanogenerators connected in an electrical configuration to form a conductive plate. In this embodiment, the pyroelectric nanogenerators may be connected in series or in parallel.
[0011] In operation, the pyroelectric light-converting module (104) functions on temperature differences for extracting electrical energy from a surface that can be at a temperature different from its surrounding environment. As a result, differential temperature among the dipoles of the pyroelectric elements induces a strain causing pyro-electricity.

[0012] In one embodiment the pyroelectric elements are connected in parallel arrangement to give a maximum current output at a constant voltage. The principle physical mechanism in the exemplary pyroelectric light-converting module (104) in accordance with the present embodiment is the pyroelectric effect. In operation, when the pyroelectric light-converting module (104) receives the heat energy emitted by the heat-absorbing plate, the pyroelectric elements generates electrical potential due to the temperature change. The pyroelectric elements includes a piece of pyroelectric material which is placed with an electrode on both sides. When heat energy comes over the pyroelectric elements, heat is generated which displaced electrons, effectively generating a charge between the electrodes. As a result electrical conductivity increases resulting from increases in the number of free carriers generated, leading to the generation of electrical energy.

[0013] In one embodiment, the electrical energy generated by the pyroelectric light-converting module (104), is further used to provide power for functioning of the infotainment system of the vehicle. In another embodiment, the electrical energy may be used as an alternate source of the energy required to charge the battery of the vehicle. In one example, the pyroelectric light-converting module 104 is adapted to generate a constant electrical energy used as an auxiliary power source for the vehicle battery.

[0014] The storage module (106) is adapted to store the electrical energy converted by the pyroelectric light-converting module (104). In one embodiment, a capacitor such as super capacitor or pseudo-capacitor may be used as the storage module (106) to store the electrical energy.

[0015] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the heat-absorbing plate (102) is being spread on the roof of the vehicle to generate electrical energy with the pyroelectric light-converting module (104). The generated electrical energy can be stored in the storage module (106) to be used for transferring the heat-absorbing plate (102), or for driving the devices used in the vehicle.

[0016] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.