PDEng Programme in Energy & Process Technology at University of Twente

Background of this project is a PV roof tile that has a wireless connection for power transfer to the underlying roof lath (batten). This tile has been developed by the company and consists of a roof tile with PV cells, and electronics and one half of a transformer. The other half of the transformer is envisaged to be mounted on the roof lath, which should also contain the auxiliary electronics. The purpose of the project is to design the electronics for both the tile and the auxiliary electronics.

The basic working principle of the power converter and transformer are known. The purpose of this project is to design the overall system of tile + roof lath electronics to be integrated in an overall PV infrastructure solution.

Some of the main design challenges are:
Lifetime. A PV solution should function reliable for decades, especially the parts that are difficult to replace. The challenge here is aging in the presence of large temperature and humidity cycles. The lifetime analysis might have implications on the system partitioning regarding the placement and connection of electronic (sub) systems in either the roof tile or the roof.
EMI. The aim is to have one DC/DC converter per roof tile. Both the integrated transformer and the circuits are sources of EMI. The cumulative EMI must be kept within regulatory limits.
Electronic and mechanical integration. This involves the design of the transformer and the integration of auxiliary functions such as maximum power point tracking (MPPT), safety features and monitoring. Additionally, the design must be developed in close cooperation with another PDEng who focuses on making the system suitable for mass production and developing a concept design for a manufacturing system.

Deadline Application: 01-12-2017

Furthre details:
PDEng Programme in Energy & Process Technology at University of Twente