Design of a Gallium Nitride DC-DC MPPT Converter for Bipolar DC Microgrids

The use of DC microgrids in combination with photovoltaic (PV) energy generation sources results in higher efficiencies by avoiding AC to DC conversion. Moreover, bipolar DC grids allow for more system flexibility and increased reliability at the cost of an additional conductor when compared to unipolar DC. However, maximum power point tracking ...

The Advances in Conversion Techniques in Triboelectric Energy Harvesting: A Review

A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a new transducer utilizing contact electrification and electrostatic induction to transform mechanical energy into electric energy. Due to its high energy density and flexibility, it can be employed to make electronic devices self-powered by harvesting ambient mechanical energy in many application...

Modelling and Control of MPPT Converters for DC Microgrids

To tackle the effect of climate change while meeting the ever-growing demand of energy, a high scale of integration of renewable energy resources has been performed in the past decade. Solar Photovoltaics have played a monumental role in this process, thus contributing in the fulfillment of the energy demand. The scalability and the flexibility...

Analysis of P&O algorithm efficiency under variable irradiance conditions

Fight against climate change is facilitated through energy transition which entails changing the fossil fuel based energy generation to sustainable resources such as solar PV. However, PV installations require extensive resources for their development and construction, so it is essential that the efficiency of energy conversion is high. A very...

Solar powered weather station: Power management

Due to the current trend of urbanization more people will come and live in cities than ever before. This increases the need to monitor the urban environment, to be able to improve the living conditions of the urban dwellers. Our project combines the need to monitor the local environment, with a portable, self-powered and wireless weather station...

DC-DC Converters for Photovoltaic Powered DC Microgrid

The modern world demands more and more electric energy. At the same time, almost a billion more people are expected to gain access to electricity over the next decade. All of the above compose a very challenging future, where a continuously increasing amount of electric energy will be needed. However, the planet is not able to provide us anymore...

Autonomous Temperature Sensor for Smart Agriculture: Energy Harvesting and Control

Many countries in the world face the problem of fruit frost during spring, which results in the loss of harvested crops. Solutions exist to prevent the fruit to freeze, however this requires that the temperature is known. Therefore, a smart autonomous temperature sensor network is designed that is capable of acquiring a 3D temperature profile of...

Solar Powered Drones: Control algorithm and Albedo map generation

With the strict Paris climate goals, all eyes are set on the development of sustainable solutions that can replace or improve commercial solutions. This thesis revolves around the design and implementation of a subsystem for the creation of a solar powered drone. The goal of the solar powered drone is increasing the flight range of a commercial...

Converter Design for Nuna Maximum Power Point Tracker

The world is rapidly moving towards a greener future, a mainstay of which is solar energy. Hence, maximum power point trackers, or MPPTs for short, are an indispensable component, since these devices provide one with the capability to fully maximize the achievable power from solar cells in a system. A symbol of the greener world that is evolving...

Maximum Power Point Tracking Topology, sensor and switch design

The Nuna 6 is a solar racing vehicle that solely relies on solar energy from the sun. Every year, the team seeks ways to improve the performance of their car. One way to improve the performance is to maximize the power output of the solar panels on top of the car. Maximizing the power output can be done with a 'Maximum Power Point Tracker'. The...

Maximum power point tracking: Algorithm and software development

Currently, the Nuon Solar Team is building their new solar car, which makes use of solar panels. Solar panels have a Maximum Power Point (MPP), which, when operated at that point, ensures the maximum available power is obtained from them. In this thesis, different options were explored to solve the problem of tracking the MPP of a solar panel....