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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Performance Loss Rate And Temperature Modeling In Predictive Energy Yield Programs For Utility-Scale Solar Power Plants, Katelynn M. Dinius
Performance Loss Rate And Temperature Modeling In Predictive Energy Yield Programs For Utility-Scale Solar Power Plants, Katelynn M. Dinius
Master's Theses
The Gold Tree Solar Farm, designed by REC Solar, has a rated output power of 4.5 MW and began operation in 2018 to provide electricity to Cal Poly’s campus. Gold Tree Solar Farm site terrain consists of rolling hills and uneven slopes. The uneven typography results in interrow shading, requiring a modified tracking control algorithm to maximize power production. Predicting a utility solar field’s lifetime energy yield is a critical step in assessing project feasibility and calculating project revenue. The MATLAB-based predictive power model developed for this field overpredicted power in the middle of the day. The purpose of this …
Thermal Energy Storage For Load Shifting, Jordan Benton Lopez Corley, Weston Cruz Montgomery, Taylor Glenn Harms
Thermal Energy Storage For Load Shifting, Jordan Benton Lopez Corley, Weston Cruz Montgomery, Taylor Glenn Harms
Mechanical Engineering
The following document accounts for the progress made in the prototype development of our design solution since the Critical Design Review, and our group’s response to recent world events which greatly impacted planned activities. Our design challenge is to develop a thermal energy storage system which will sequester the energy from a photovoltaic (PV) array during the day and allow for its dispersal at night in the form of near boiling water. Looking at our user’s needs, we broke our design solution into four components: water heating, storage, distribution, and controls. Research of all components was conducted to ascertain which …
Photovoltaic Cooking In The Developing World, Tyler Watkins, Christopher O'Day, Omar Arriaga
Photovoltaic Cooking In The Developing World, Tyler Watkins, Christopher O'Day, Omar Arriaga
Mechanical Engineering
The challenge of clean cooking is faced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. We present a cooking technology consisting of a solar panel directly connected to an electric heater in a well-insulated chamber. Assuming continued decrease in solar panel prices, we anticipate that in a few decades Solar Electric Cooking technologies will be the most common cooking technology for the poor. Appropriate use of insulation reduces the power demand making low-power Insulated Solar Electric Cooking systems already cost competitive.