Renewable Energy DesignSmart Grid, Energy Harvesting, Cybersecurity, Energy Markets

The quest to move away from fossil fuels is an important subject for the engineers of today and tomorrow to tackle.

Renewable Energy Design circuit board Renewable Energy Design circuit board

Goals:
Design, fabrication and implementation of various renewable energy technologies including power electronics for distributed sensor and control systems for demand response.

Key Elements:
Power electronics, distributed sensor and control systems, optimization algorithms, IoT, cybersecurity, smart appliances, renewable power take-off, fabrication, advanced simulated IoT testbed.

Research Issues:
Our laboratory has developed several optimization algorithms which include consideration for power quality, grid stability, markets, and cost. We have designed and fabricated distributed sensor and control hardware devices which are able to interact with control systems designed around our optimization and control algorithms. A primary focus is the implementation of demand response systems which will allow for higher penetrations of intermittent renewable energy generation in the modern power grid. Our lab has has begun pilot implementation of an adaptive demand response system that integrates novel methods of mathematical modeling, high speed computing, and network communication. The System uses a comprehensive approach to demand response, which is able to characterize the behavior of each node and its connected loads and respond appropriately to grid conditions.

Meeting Time:
TBD

Advisor(s):
Reza Ghorbani

Partners and sponsors
National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Greenpath Technologies, Kanalytix, Smartgrid Corporation

Majors, preparation, interests:
EE,ME: Interest in power electronics, PCB design and fabrication, power take off devices, enclosure design and fabrication.
EE,CEng: Interest in programming, feedback control systems, database design, network design, web design.
Business: Product commercialization process, intellectual property, power markets.

Contact information:
Reza Ghorbani rezag@hawaii.edu