Renewable Energy Research Laboratory

Sustainable energy is an increasingly important component of the new energy mix. The lab experiments cover the technologies in energy conversion, utilization and storage in solar, wind, fuel cells, and hybrid systems. The smart micro-power grid will also be designed and optimized through a simulation with the consideration of cost and environmental effect.

This lab is motivated from the strong need to prepare the next generation of inter-disciplinary engineers with a comprehensive background in sustainable energy. The experiments in this lab are designed to stimulate students’ interest in development and research. At the end of the course, the students are expected to:

• Estimate the solar irradiance on solar panels, set up solar panels, and evaluate their performance.
• Estimate the wind energy, understand the working principle of wind turbine, and evaluate its performance.
• Understand the working principles of fuel cell and electrolyzer, set up these instruments, evaluate their performance.
• Design, simulate, and optimize energy systems for home or small community

Projects

• Solar Cell and Solar Energy
• Hydrogen production and fuel cells
• Wind turbine
• Power electronics
• Simulation of micro power grid with sustainable energy