Minigrids Powering Climate Action
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Sustainable Development Goal target(s) |
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| Project lead | Mazherrudin Syed and Bartosz Soltowski |
| Open to year groups |
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| Faculties/departments |
Electronic & Electrical Engineering;Electrical & Mechanical Engineering
Please note: availability can vary between degrees. Please contact your advisor of studies and the project lead for more information. |
| How to apply |
To apply for this project please complete our application form. |
Project overview
This project was established with funding from the Lady Curran Endowment Fund as a COP26 Legacy project addressing SDG13: Climate Action.
Off-grid microgrids comprised of solar photovoltaic panels, energy storage devices, power converters as well as smart appliances present great potential to improve access to electricity for over 650 million people residing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rapid energy transition across the Global South has been ongoing for the past 10 years and was primarily stimulated by falling costs of microgrid components as well as improvements in digital technologies. This project aims to further accelerate progress in achieving sustainable energy for all targets by developing microgrid testbench which can be therefore used to test and validate new technologies for off-grid market developed by Strathclyde researchers.
What will students be working on?
Your task will be to develop a low-cost data logger measuring a wide range of parameters within the solar microgrid. Such data logger is expected to be installed in the selected network operated by Strathclyde researchers in Malawi. Measurements taken should include rate of power generation, level of energy stored, electric demand in the system and more. Data are going to be measured with a support of selected microcontroller boards and with appropriate communication technologies. Parameters gathered from the selected microgrid in Malawi and stored in a centralised database are therefore going to be used for further technical experiments conducted at the University of Strathclyde. This will include use of RTDS (Real Time Digital Simulator) which can be programmed to present live behaviour of the microgrid using Strathclyde facilities. As a result, Energy for Development team at Strathclyde will have new methods of conducting experimental validation of new technical solution using live data measured within the microgrid in Malawi.
Have more questions or want to get involved?
Please contact bartosz.soltowski@strath.ac.uk and mazheruddin.syed@strath.ac.uk or apply for this project.