off-grid renewable energy student design project as …ciec/proceedings_2014/etd/etd375... ·...

Off-Grid Renewable Energy Student Design Project as Means of Hands-On

Renewable Energy Education

Dr. Elena V. Brewer, Anthony P. Dalessio, Richard J. HillErie Community College

2014 ASEE/CIEC Conference, Savannah, GA, February 5, 2014

Existing PV Systems course(since 2011)

• Examinations

• Homework assignments:‐ theoretical ‐ practical (load analysis using kill‐a‐watt meter, shading analysis using Solar PathFinder, solar irradiance analysis with PV Watts calculator or solar irradiance tables, etc.)

• Comprehensive Group Design Project

• Assessment


Design Project


New Wind Power course: Some of the Topics Covered

• Wind turbine site analysis

• Wind resource analysis (Rayleigh distribution, Weibull distribution, etc.)

• Turbine power output / energy output estimates

• Blades aerodynamics

• Mechanical and Electrical aspects


System Needs and Requirements

• The EET department presently has a need for an off‐grid power system to power lights and power tools for the college’s overhead construction and climbing facility for Energy Utility Technology program:

‐ overhead climbing class runs 3 or 6 weeks every summer, 5 days a week, 8 hours per day;‐ no electricity on site;‐ hot temperatures.


EUT Climbing School

System Requirements

• Lighting inside the 40 ft. trailer (on 20A circuit)

• Portable ice maker (on 20A circuit)

• Small monitoring/data logging system

• Wireless access point


Inside the Trailer View

Potential Additional Loads

• Larger PLC‐based data logging system

• Flood lights / sign lighting

• Small refrigerator

• Weather station


Pole Yard Aerial View

Additional System

Requirements

• Low maintenance batteries: either AGM or

gel

• 30‐40 ft. from the trailer to the poles

• Poles are 40 ft. high


Pole Yard side View

Site Characteristics• Good wind resource

(throughout the whole year)

• Low shading

• During winter – heavy snow (poor solar generation)

• Low winter temperatures: ‐ average low ‐8C‐ record low – 29 C (poor battery performance in winter)


Shading Analysis

• 4 groups of students did laboratory experiment for shading analysis at the site of future installation using:‐ Solar Pathfinder‐ Solmetric SunEye

• Different possible PV array locations were tested:‐ pole mount‐ ground mount (south end)‐ on top of the trailer‐ on the south side of the trailer


Wind Resource Analysis for Superwind 350 24V turbine

• There is no detailed wind data for the site.

• Data for average wind speeds from weather station at Buffalo International airport were used to determine Rayleigh wind speed distribution and projected turbine generated energy output.


Superwind 350 Wind Turbine

• The turbine was installed at south campus during summer 2012 climbing school.

• The department was going to complete the stand‐alone wind/PV system for data acquisition purposes and to run lights in the trailer for the climbing school.

• Budgetary issues prevented us from completing this project in 2012.


Installation of Wind Turbine


Installation of Wind Turbine2014 ASEE/CIEC Conference, Savannah, GA, February 5, 2014

ASEE ETD

(Engineering Technology Division) Mini‐Grant

• In the Fall of 2012, ASEE ETD division announced the competition for mini‐grants (up to $5,000) for partial funding on project which will benefit ETD or a segment of the engineering technology community.

• ETD gave as much latitude as possible to ETD members in the choice of projects. The project should benefit ETD itself or a significant portion of the engineering technology community. It may focus on a single discipline and/or be of use to a particular college or system, so long as the results will benefit the larger ETD community.

• EET department applied and won one of three mini‐grant awards.


Budgetary Constraints

• ASEE ETD mini grant ‐ $4,200 for equipment, $800 for conference

• ECC matching costs:‐ $2,500 Superwind 350 24V wind turbinewith wind charge regulator and dump load,‐ available assortment of PV charge controllers ($400 ‐$1,500)‐ available 140W solar panels (if students choose to use them)‐ 10 available AGM 105 Wh batteries (if students choose to use them)‐ up to $1,000 from EET department budget‐ installation of the pole ($1,400) plus pole cost ($600)


Design Competition• Several students groups (2‐3 students each) competed for

the best design of the system within current specifications (energy audit, wind resource analysis, shading analysis, customer load requirements, customer system requirements, budgetary constraints, already existing equipment, NEC requirements, etc.) during Spring 2013 semester.

• Design competition provided students with real life experience designing actual renewable energy system.

• The combination of PV Systems course and Wind Power course (electives) provided students with unique background for possible design of the hybrid PV‐Wind system.


Design Competition

• Deliverable – design of the viable PV/Wind/hybrid stand alone system with battery back up:‐ PowerPoint presentation‐ Portfolio with supporting materials (wind resource and shading analysis, load specs, major system components specs, array and battery bank sizing calculations, wire sizing calculations, etc.)

• The competition judging panel consisted of PV/wind industry representatives, customers (instructor from National Grid teaching the climbing school), ECC faculty


Design Competition

• 4 student group designs were presented ranging from systems utilizing only PV array to hybrid systems with wind turbine and PV panels.

• The winning project was determined based on judging panel scores.

• The grade for the student design project was determined based on judging panel scores, portfolio with system specification, presentations performance, student self‐evaluation.


Design Competition:

Technical Aspects Criteria Rating (1 to 10) Com

Load analysis

Were minimum load requirements met?

Were space requirements met?

Shading analysis

Available wind energy analysis (if applicable)

PV Array / Wind turbine sizing

Charge controller and battery bank sizing

Inverter sizing

BOS sizing (disconnects, wiring)

System components completely priced out

Was project cost kept under budget?

Were specs for all system components provided?

Sources for all components How complete the proposal is

Room for expansion

Judging Criteria


Design Competition:

PresentationEvaluation


Presentation aspects: Criteria Rating (1 to 10)

Eye contact

Team work (everybody presents)

Appropriate use of PowerPoint

Technical content

Timing (15-20 min)

Elocution and appropriate audio level

Design Competition:

Peer Evaluation


Rating scale: 5 – strongly agree 4 – agree 3 – not sure 2 – disagree 1 – disagree strongly

Criterion Team Member 1:

Team Member 2:

Roles were clearly defined and executed 1: Had a clear understanding of what was expected of them

2: Maximized the use of her/his individual skill set for the benefit of the team

Followed a schedule for timely completion 3: Complied with mechanisms to track the progress of the project

4: Could be expected to complete assignments in a timely fashion

Negotiated consensus when needed 5: Showed respect for the opinions of the other team members

6: Showed willingness to negotiate and compromise

Equitable participation by team members 7: Contributed her/his own ideas and viewpoints

8: Did their fair share of the work

Shared responsibility for success and failure 9: Actively sought and shared information from/with other team members

10: Was flexible/adaptable to changing requirements

Design Competition:

• Teamwork rubric

• Behavior rubric

• Organization rubric

• Time Management rubric

Self Evaluation


Project Discussion• Students received valuable experience designing real‐life

hybrid stand‐alone system

• EET and EUT students gained hands‐on experience during installation of the system

• The installed system will be utilized to power lights, ice maker, and other small loads during summer climbing school AND will provide power for monitoring/ data collection system allowing us to collect data pertinent to solar and wind power production at the site.


Project Discussion• Students did not present/consider minor topics:

‐ additional power generation to charge batteries and run full loads at the same time (therefore we had to reduce the number of loads),

‐ calculations to determine proper cables for the battery bank,

‐ specs and prices for the conduits,

‐ specs and prices for the blocking diode for the solar panel.


Modifications

Original Equipment Specified Replacement

Eight Marine / RV Intimidator AGM 12 V, 105 Ah

Four 245‐AH Sealed AGM Batteries, 12 VDC

Samlex America PST – 2000 – 24 2000W 24 V inverter

Power Bright 24V 400W inverter

Disconnect box –4 @ $60 for 30 A box Mount – $240

Steel NEMA 3 Enclosure 24X20x8”


Installation – Summer 2013


Final Budget Breakdown


Equipment and installation ECC‐match

Utility pole and installation $2,000

Superwind 350 24V wind turbine with SCR 24 Marine charge controller

$2,500

Power Bright 24V 400W inverter $ 36

Wind Turbine mount $ 238

Steel NEMA 3 Enclosure 24X20x8” $ 254

Steel NEMA 3 Enclosure 8X8x4” with distribution block $ 53

24V to 12V, 3.8A DC to DC Converter $ 5

Bogart Pentametric Monitoring System (system input, monitor display unit and ethernet interface)

$ 413

Miscellaneous (wire, conduit, brackets, hardware and mounting structure)

$ 650

TOTAL $6,149



Equipment and installation ECC‐match Grant‐financed

Ground Fault Protector and Rail Mount Breakers $ 98

100A / 100mV DC Shunt $ 54

4 245‐AH Sealed AGM Batteries, 12 VDC $1,671

Battery Terminal Adaptors, Cable Assembly, etc. $ 326

NEMA 3R Aluminum Battery Enclosure, 16x48x24”

$1,085

120W 24V Multicrystalline Solar Panel, Solarland $ 227

Conference presentation $ 800

Delivery charges $ 739

TOTAL: $5,000



ECC‐match Grant‐financed

$6,149 $5,000

Conclusions

• Designed hybrid system met most load requirements and specified system requirements

• The system (with minimum modifications) was installed within the budget constraints

• Students received valuable experience designing real‐life hybrid stand‐alone system

• EET and EUT students gained hands‐on experience during installation of the system


Conclusions• The installed system will be utilized to power

lights, ice maker, and other small loads during summer climbing school

• The rest of the year, the system will provide power for monitoring/ data collection system allowing us to collect data pertinent to solar and wind power production at the site. EET department has plans of offering this site as a testing site for various small turbines in the future.


Conclusions• Generated data can also be used in the various

courses related to renewable energy generation, for example PV Systems course offered in Spring 2014.

• System was already utilized for the Environmental science course during Fall 2013.


Questions??


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