An autonomous solar charging station for e-Bikes has been developed. For an optimal design of all... more An autonomous solar charging station for e-Bikes has been developed. For an optimal design of all system components, both a prototype has been built, and a model has been created. Validation of the model has been done by taking measured irradiance and measured total electrical load profiles as input for a period of one month. The output in terms of PV yield, grid feed-in, SOC of battery bank, etc. has been compared with the real measured values of these parameters. This validation gives much confidence in the model, although care needs to be taken for low SOC values, at which a high accuracy of the model is mandatory to distinguish between 'able to power' and 'unmet load'. Full year round modeling results are performed by using TMY-data for irradiance, and an electrical load very nearby real measured load patterns including some seasonal effects. These simulation runs show a reliability of 94.9% for the current configuration with 7 e-Bikes and a well-equipped chargin...
This study aims to investigate the consumer acceptance of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) charging of elect... more This study aims to investigate the consumer acceptance of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) charging of electric vehicle (EV) drivers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first V2G acceptance study that is based on actual users’ experience of V2G charging. A test set up with a V2G charge point at a solar carport was constructed at the Delft University of Technology. Seventeen participants in the study were given access to a V2G-compatible Nissan LEAF and the constructed V2G charging facilities, after which they were interviewed. Clear communication of the impacts of V2G charging cycles on EV batteries, financial compensation covering these impacts, real-time insight on the battery state-of-charge and the ability to set operational parameters through a user-friendly interface were all found to foster acceptance. The main barriers for acceptance were the uncertainty associated with battery state-of-charge, the increased need for planning charging and trips, the increased anxiety ab...
This paper focuses on student diversity as an enabling factor in renewable energy education and q... more This paper focuses on student diversity as an enabling factor in renewable energy education and qualitatively examines its effects on the learning process and experience, both during the educational period as well as in career and personal growth. It draws on the experiences of students and alumni of the Postgraduate Programme Renewable Energy (PPRE) at the Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany. The programme, which has been instrumental in renewable energy education to a diverse student population since its beginnings in 1987, has recently (in 2016) won the Ars Legendi prize for its approach to diversity in learning. The paper discusses various differences in individual, academic and cultural backgrounds, to assess their contributions to the learning process and to the personal and professional development, based on the study participants' opinions.
Scheduled charging offers the potential for electric vehicles (EVs) to use renewable energy more ... more Scheduled charging offers the potential for electric vehicles (EVs) to use renewable energy more efficiently, lowering costs and improving the stability of the electricity grid. Many studies related to EV charge scheduling found in the literature assume perfect or highly accurate knowledge of energy demand for EVs expected to arrive after the scheduling is performed. However, in practice, there is always a degree of uncertainty related to future EV charging demands. In this work, a Model Predictive Control (MPC) based smart charging strategy is developed, which takes this uncertainty into account, both in terms of the timing of the EV arrival as well as the magnitude of energy demand. The objective of the strategy is to reduce the peak electricity demand at an EV parking lot with PVarrays. The developed strategy is compared with both conventional EV charging as well as smart charging with an assumption of perfect knowledge of uncertain future events. The comparison reveals that the ...
2020 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Smart Grid and Renewable Energy (PESGRE2020), 2020
Microgrids enable distribution of electricity with higher shares of variable renewables, higher p... more Microgrids enable distribution of electricity with higher shares of variable renewables, higher power quality, greater reliability and higher efficiency. There are a large number of factors in addition to the technology, which affect their shift towards market competitiveness and widespread adoption. The PESTEL framework, covering Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environmental and Legislative factors, is used to identify and describe the drivers and barriers for microgrid development at the global level. The framework enables a broader approach to describe potential for microgrid applications. The results aim to provide engineers, project developers and microgrid specialists with an overview of the prospects for microgrid deployment.
2020 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe (ISGT-Europe), 2020
Aggregation of sufficiently large electric vehicle (EV) fleets and control over their charging sc... more Aggregation of sufficiently large electric vehicle (EV) fleets and control over their charging schedules enables aggregators to utilise the flexibility of EV charging in the Day Ahead Market. Optimising the charge scheduling of such fleets enables time-shifting of electricity demand to hours when electricity is cheaper, reducing the electricity cost for charging the entire fleet. Time shifting with scheduled charging is expected to influence the average carbon intensity of the energy used by these vehicles. This work aims to quantify the change in the carbon intensity of energy used by smart charged vehicles. It uses real data collected from over 55,000 home charging sessions from 1031 chargepoints in the Netherlands in 2018. A simulation was made with a commercial smart charging algorithm to create a scheduled charging profile ex post from the historic EV charging dataset. The simulation resulted in an average price reduction of electricity for the fleet of about 25% relative to un...
Executive Summary of the final report of the Users TCP Social License to Automate Task findings f... more Executive Summary of the final report of the Users TCP Social License to Automate Task findings from a 2 year project with 16 researchers in 6 countries, 26 Case studies spanning electric vehicles, home and precinct batteries, air conditioners and other heat pumps.
The Social License to Automate Task has investigated the social dimensions of user engagement wit... more The Social License to Automate Task has investigated the social dimensions of user engagement with automated technologies in energy systems to understand how end-user trust to automate is built and maintained in different jurisdictions and cultural settings. The rapid uptake of renewable energy systems will require new automated technologies to balance energy supplies. Some developers are looking to locate these in households where energy is being used. This saves moving the energy from centralised generation sites (remote hydro, solar or wind). This report details the findings from a 2 year project with 16 researchers in 6 countries, 26 Case studies spanning electric vehicles, home and precinct batteries, air conditioners and other heat pumps.
2019 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe (ISGT-Europe)
This paper outlines the challenges faced during the implementation of a Vehicle-2-Grid setup from... more This paper outlines the challenges faced during the implementation of a Vehicle-2-Grid setup from the design phase, through project planning, application for permits and clearances, procurement of equipment and installation. It is based on the experience of designing a living lab at the Green Village in TU Delft, the Netherlands. Desk research and active collection of information from various stakeholders was performed to outline the current state of the technology and the barriers for various stakeholders. It is the aim of this work to provide insight into the subsequent design of V2G systems for future research and pilot projects.
This undergraduate project report investigates the effect and range of effect that increasing lev... more This undergraduate project report investigates the effect and range of effect that increasing levels of moisture have on digestate-derived biochar prepared through pyrolysis with the purpose of optimizing the pyrolysis process. The measured quantities in the biochar post pyrolysis are calorific value ( using Channiwala's empirical formula), surface area (using the methylene blue test), and soil amendment properties (using the Water Holding Capacity Test and the Munoo-Liisa Vitality Index).
This undergraduate project report explores the technology and social perceptions of jewellery in ... more This undergraduate project report explores the technology and social perceptions of jewellery in South Karnataka (Udupi District) and is supported by a case study and a survey.
The paper briefly describes the Hall effect and its application in semiconductor material analysi... more The paper briefly describes the Hall effect and its application in semiconductor material analysis. The Hall coefficient is calculated based on experimental results and used to measure fundamental semiconductor properties of the given doped sample of germanium. Values of conductivity, resistivity, carrier concentration and carrier mobility are calculated and the dopant type is identified. The obtained results are then validated through comparison with existing literature.
The third generation of solar cells are pushing towards ever-increasing efficiencies through vari... more The third generation of solar cells are pushing towards ever-increasing efficiencies through various strategies. This paper reviews one of these strategies, multiple exciton generation, a process by which a single high-energy photon can lead to the formation of multiple electron-hole (exciton) pairs, leading to an increased photocurrent and higher power output as opposed to conventional solar cells, where a single photon is only capable of single exciton generation. Over the course of this review, the process is detailed and process parameters are identified, the current state of the technology is summarised and its significance is demonstrated. Further, the key area of future research and the rival technologies to MEG solar cells are briefly discussed.
The paper provides a brief overview of the current (as of early 2016) policies in India related t... more The paper provides a brief overview of the current (as of early 2016) policies in India related to the field of solar photovoltaics, both at the national and state levels. A recommendation is made for India's future policies as it transitions towards grid parity and needs to develop a solar industry that remains competitive in an unsubsidised market.
An autonomous solar charging station for e-Bikes has been developed. For an optimal design of all... more An autonomous solar charging station for e-Bikes has been developed. For an optimal design of all system components, both a prototype has been built, and a model has been created. Validation of the model has been done by taking measured irradiance and measured total electrical load profiles as input for a period of one month. The output in terms of PV yield, grid feed-in, SOC of battery bank, etc. has been compared with the real measured values of these parameters. This validation gives much confidence in the model, although care needs to be taken for low SOC values, at which a high accuracy of the model is mandatory to distinguish between 'able to power' and 'unmet load'. Full year round modeling results are performed by using TMY-data for irradiance, and an electrical load very nearby real measured load patterns including some seasonal effects. These simulation runs show a reliability of 94.9% for the current configuration with 7 e-Bikes and a well-equipped chargin...
This study aims to investigate the consumer acceptance of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) charging of elect... more This study aims to investigate the consumer acceptance of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) charging of electric vehicle (EV) drivers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first V2G acceptance study that is based on actual users’ experience of V2G charging. A test set up with a V2G charge point at a solar carport was constructed at the Delft University of Technology. Seventeen participants in the study were given access to a V2G-compatible Nissan LEAF and the constructed V2G charging facilities, after which they were interviewed. Clear communication of the impacts of V2G charging cycles on EV batteries, financial compensation covering these impacts, real-time insight on the battery state-of-charge and the ability to set operational parameters through a user-friendly interface were all found to foster acceptance. The main barriers for acceptance were the uncertainty associated with battery state-of-charge, the increased need for planning charging and trips, the increased anxiety ab...
This paper focuses on student diversity as an enabling factor in renewable energy education and q... more This paper focuses on student diversity as an enabling factor in renewable energy education and qualitatively examines its effects on the learning process and experience, both during the educational period as well as in career and personal growth. It draws on the experiences of students and alumni of the Postgraduate Programme Renewable Energy (PPRE) at the Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany. The programme, which has been instrumental in renewable energy education to a diverse student population since its beginnings in 1987, has recently (in 2016) won the Ars Legendi prize for its approach to diversity in learning. The paper discusses various differences in individual, academic and cultural backgrounds, to assess their contributions to the learning process and to the personal and professional development, based on the study participants' opinions.
Scheduled charging offers the potential for electric vehicles (EVs) to use renewable energy more ... more Scheduled charging offers the potential for electric vehicles (EVs) to use renewable energy more efficiently, lowering costs and improving the stability of the electricity grid. Many studies related to EV charge scheduling found in the literature assume perfect or highly accurate knowledge of energy demand for EVs expected to arrive after the scheduling is performed. However, in practice, there is always a degree of uncertainty related to future EV charging demands. In this work, a Model Predictive Control (MPC) based smart charging strategy is developed, which takes this uncertainty into account, both in terms of the timing of the EV arrival as well as the magnitude of energy demand. The objective of the strategy is to reduce the peak electricity demand at an EV parking lot with PVarrays. The developed strategy is compared with both conventional EV charging as well as smart charging with an assumption of perfect knowledge of uncertain future events. The comparison reveals that the ...
2020 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Smart Grid and Renewable Energy (PESGRE2020), 2020
Microgrids enable distribution of electricity with higher shares of variable renewables, higher p... more Microgrids enable distribution of electricity with higher shares of variable renewables, higher power quality, greater reliability and higher efficiency. There are a large number of factors in addition to the technology, which affect their shift towards market competitiveness and widespread adoption. The PESTEL framework, covering Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environmental and Legislative factors, is used to identify and describe the drivers and barriers for microgrid development at the global level. The framework enables a broader approach to describe potential for microgrid applications. The results aim to provide engineers, project developers and microgrid specialists with an overview of the prospects for microgrid deployment.
2020 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe (ISGT-Europe), 2020
Aggregation of sufficiently large electric vehicle (EV) fleets and control over their charging sc... more Aggregation of sufficiently large electric vehicle (EV) fleets and control over their charging schedules enables aggregators to utilise the flexibility of EV charging in the Day Ahead Market. Optimising the charge scheduling of such fleets enables time-shifting of electricity demand to hours when electricity is cheaper, reducing the electricity cost for charging the entire fleet. Time shifting with scheduled charging is expected to influence the average carbon intensity of the energy used by these vehicles. This work aims to quantify the change in the carbon intensity of energy used by smart charged vehicles. It uses real data collected from over 55,000 home charging sessions from 1031 chargepoints in the Netherlands in 2018. A simulation was made with a commercial smart charging algorithm to create a scheduled charging profile ex post from the historic EV charging dataset. The simulation resulted in an average price reduction of electricity for the fleet of about 25% relative to un...
Executive Summary of the final report of the Users TCP Social License to Automate Task findings f... more Executive Summary of the final report of the Users TCP Social License to Automate Task findings from a 2 year project with 16 researchers in 6 countries, 26 Case studies spanning electric vehicles, home and precinct batteries, air conditioners and other heat pumps.
The Social License to Automate Task has investigated the social dimensions of user engagement wit... more The Social License to Automate Task has investigated the social dimensions of user engagement with automated technologies in energy systems to understand how end-user trust to automate is built and maintained in different jurisdictions and cultural settings. The rapid uptake of renewable energy systems will require new automated technologies to balance energy supplies. Some developers are looking to locate these in households where energy is being used. This saves moving the energy from centralised generation sites (remote hydro, solar or wind). This report details the findings from a 2 year project with 16 researchers in 6 countries, 26 Case studies spanning electric vehicles, home and precinct batteries, air conditioners and other heat pumps.
2019 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe (ISGT-Europe)
This paper outlines the challenges faced during the implementation of a Vehicle-2-Grid setup from... more This paper outlines the challenges faced during the implementation of a Vehicle-2-Grid setup from the design phase, through project planning, application for permits and clearances, procurement of equipment and installation. It is based on the experience of designing a living lab at the Green Village in TU Delft, the Netherlands. Desk research and active collection of information from various stakeholders was performed to outline the current state of the technology and the barriers for various stakeholders. It is the aim of this work to provide insight into the subsequent design of V2G systems for future research and pilot projects.
This undergraduate project report investigates the effect and range of effect that increasing lev... more This undergraduate project report investigates the effect and range of effect that increasing levels of moisture have on digestate-derived biochar prepared through pyrolysis with the purpose of optimizing the pyrolysis process. The measured quantities in the biochar post pyrolysis are calorific value ( using Channiwala's empirical formula), surface area (using the methylene blue test), and soil amendment properties (using the Water Holding Capacity Test and the Munoo-Liisa Vitality Index).
This undergraduate project report explores the technology and social perceptions of jewellery in ... more This undergraduate project report explores the technology and social perceptions of jewellery in South Karnataka (Udupi District) and is supported by a case study and a survey.
The paper briefly describes the Hall effect and its application in semiconductor material analysi... more The paper briefly describes the Hall effect and its application in semiconductor material analysis. The Hall coefficient is calculated based on experimental results and used to measure fundamental semiconductor properties of the given doped sample of germanium. Values of conductivity, resistivity, carrier concentration and carrier mobility are calculated and the dopant type is identified. The obtained results are then validated through comparison with existing literature.
The third generation of solar cells are pushing towards ever-increasing efficiencies through vari... more The third generation of solar cells are pushing towards ever-increasing efficiencies through various strategies. This paper reviews one of these strategies, multiple exciton generation, a process by which a single high-energy photon can lead to the formation of multiple electron-hole (exciton) pairs, leading to an increased photocurrent and higher power output as opposed to conventional solar cells, where a single photon is only capable of single exciton generation. Over the course of this review, the process is detailed and process parameters are identified, the current state of the technology is summarised and its significance is demonstrated. Further, the key area of future research and the rival technologies to MEG solar cells are briefly discussed.
The paper provides a brief overview of the current (as of early 2016) policies in India related t... more The paper provides a brief overview of the current (as of early 2016) policies in India related to the field of solar photovoltaics, both at the national and state levels. A recommendation is made for India's future policies as it transitions towards grid parity and needs to develop a solar industry that remains competitive in an unsubsidised market.
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