Power and Energy Commons^™

Light Sensing Automated Blinds, Andrew B. Hodges, Ryan C. Flick

Electrical Engineering

This project is solving the problem of wasted energy within buildings and homes, because currently the lights turned on inside building do not utilize natural, ambient light from the sun. Rather than having unnecessary light from a light source, the automated light sensing smart blinds can sense the amount of light outside the window and in the room, and then adjust the angle of the blinds to save energy by utilizing the available outdoor light. This way, the light source will not be running at maximum power output while there is excess light coming through the window. This project aims …

Wireless Charging For Bluetooth Earphones, Daniel Carlson

Electrical Engineering

This project involves designing and building an inductive charging system for Bluetooth earphones. This system provides a charging dock for a pair of retrofitted Bluetooth earphones and focuses on ease-of-use and convenience for the user. The motivations for this project include providing charging compatibility to changing audio technology and trends. Smart phones and other audio products are increasingly leaning towards wireless (Bluetooth) audio, and wireless headphones/headsets are naturally becoming more prevalent to match this trend. A small, easy to use, and efficient charging dock for these earphones seems like a necessary accessory for this technology to seem attractive to consumers. …

Off Grid Solar Array, Courtney Elliott

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Ac And Dc Led Light Bulb Efficiency For The Dc House Project, Brandon Stafford

Electrical Engineering

This project investigates the efficiency of using LED light bulbs when operated under two different electrical systems: AC and DC systems. The project is in conjunction with the implementation of the DC House system in urban areas. More specifically, this project looks at whether having a hybrid AC and DC system in a typical urban house will increase the efficiency in operating the LED light bulbs, and thus reducing energy consumption and cost. The efficiency of the LED light bulbs are measured by looking at their lumens per watt output. Several light bulbs at four different wattage levels were tested. …

Power Distribution:Protection Analysis, Avneet S. Samra

Electrical Engineering

The objective of this project is to build a radial distribution system that operates on a lower voltage. The system consists of a transmission line protected by a SEL-351 Relay, a three- phase transformer protected by a SEL-587 Relay, and a three-phase induction motor protected by a Cooper Form 6 Controller. The SEL-351, SEL-587, and the Cooper Form 6 Controller are microprocessor-based relays that are used to provide protection under faulted conditions. When a fault is detected in the system, the closest upstream relay sends a trip signal to its assigned local breaker. The SEL-351 provides overcurrent protection for the …

Designing A Power Distribution System For The Arce 257 Revit Structural Model, Reid Wilhelm

Electrical Engineering

The construction industry needs engineers. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers, better known as MEPs, comprise a large number of employees who design and assist in the building of commercial structures. In particular, electrical engineers design power distribution systems for these buildings, including the power, lighting, low voltage, and fire protection subsystems.

Here at Cal Poly, architectural engineers enrolled in ARCE 257 create authentic structural plans for a fictitious two-story structure. This senior project transforms these structural plans into an architectural model and creates a power distribution system for the entire building. This is done through a building information modeling (BIM) …

Electric Smart Load Meter, Johnny Tran

Electrical Engineering

This project details the design of an electric meter that reads the signals of any device plugged into an outlet and displays cost readings that may potentially reduce power consumption. The sensor monitors whether a plugged in device continuously consumes power after completely charging up. For a charging device, the current remains constant until the device reaches 100% charge. Once the device becomes fully charged, the current discontinues for proper power usage. A unique aspect of the meter is that it displays cost per hour, day, and year. Displaying the cost per unit of time creates awareness for customers, potentially …

Automatic Water Pump Controller, Alam D. Salguero, Kyle Russell Marquez Weeks

Electrical Engineering

In countries including Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador, a city water authority supplies the clean water and pumps it into large ground-level storage tanks. A resident’s water pump then pumps the water to a water tank on top of his/her house. When the water level in the ground-level storage tank becomes too low, the pump siphons air and shuts down, requiring a resident to manually prime the water pump to get it running again. Residents struggle to monitor the water level of the tanks effectively and keep the pump running properly. To remedy the issue, the Automatic Water Pump …

Energy Harvesting From Exercise Machines Buck-Boost Dc Dc Converter With The Lt8705 Controller, Ryan Matteo

Electrical Engineering

In order to increase sustainability and save money, the Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) system uses human supplied energy to self-power exercise equipment such as spin bikes, elliptical trainers, ergometers, etc. This document covers the design and implementation of a Buck-Boost DC-DC converter using the LT8705 controller into the EHFEM system. This project improves upon the overall efficiency of the Buck-Boost Converter designed by past groups working on the EHFEM system.

Transformer And Motor Protection Scheme, Bijan Vakilifathi

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Solar Generation's Impact On Fault Current, Kody Heppner

Electrical Engineering

California is paving the road for other states with the capacity of solar installations for residential and commercial entities. The added capacity of solar generation to the state's electric grid has an impact on power flow and fault currents. This project looks at the impact of solar installations on fault currents. Feeders with added residential rooftop solar and larger commercial solar installations may impact the system differently than a large, utility-sized solar installation. This project looks at the impact of both cases on the magnitude of fault current during many different fault types and locations that can occur within a …

Integration Of Sel Relays To Provide Motor, Transmission Line, And Transformer Protection, Christopher Ewing, Bryce Keefer

Electrical Engineering

The objective of this project is to familiarize the performers with the principles of operation of the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) protective relays in both normal and fault conditions. The SEL-587, SEL-311L and SEL-710 microprocessor-based relays are used to provide protection for a system composed of transformers, simulated transmission lines and a 3-phase induction motor. Each of these relays provides protection by sending a trip signal to local breakers upon sensing a fault condition. The SEL-587 provides overcurrent and differential protection for a 3-phase transformer, while the SEL-311L provides differential and distance protection for a transmission line, and negative sequence. …

Micro-Inverter Improvement For The Energy Harvesting From Exercise Machine Project, James Ralston

Electrical Engineering

The Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) project at California Polytechnic State University consists of several different projects coming together to add human generated power to the grid. This project focuses on implementing a more efficient micro-inverter. The micro-inverter used to convert DC to AC voltage requires up to 5 minutes before the conversion process begins. This time lag significantly diminishes the power produced from an exercising individual. Research of micro-inverters approved by the CEC introduces desirable micro-inverters, available for use in California, to the EHFEM project. Testing the two most desirable micro-inverters found from research allows for quantifying of …

Rf Power Harvesting Rectenna, Jimmy Tang, Raymond Phu, Tom Geranios, Benjamin Muñoz

Electrical Engineering

Sustainability is one of today's primary engineering objectives. This principle involves system design that minimizes environmentally harmful energy emissions and resource consumption, and maximizes renewable energy practices [1]. Communication antennas transmit wireless signals that can be converted into usable energy. The Rectenna system described in this report, shown in Figure 1, was designed to accomplish this energy conversion, with -5dBm (316µW) minimum power at the rectifier input. Since typical ambient signal power is in the -70dBm (0.1nW) range, the proposed system could only convert passive, relatively high-power microwave band AC signals to DC. The Rectenna system was designed for 1.9GHz …

Solar-Powered Hot Tub, Jonathan Peterson, Anthony Zepeda

Electrical Engineering

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a solar-powered hot tub. The concept of this project was to design an independently-operated hot tub powered by a 12V rechargeable battery, charged during the day by a single 400W solar panel. For this purpose, a twenty-year-old name-brand hot tub was purchased, in used condition. The plumbing, AC electrical wiring, and mechanical pumps were all removed and replaced with new components to meet our design specifications. Additionally, a solar water-heater was designed and integrated into the system to directly apply the sun’s heat to water pumped in and out of the tub, …

Faraday Rechargeable Battery System, Alex Gasper, Bret Omsberg

Electrical Engineering

The modern electronic age has given birth to a variety of innovative and hand-held devices that are carried with the consumer nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The one shortfall of these devices is their energy storage, or in most cases, a battery. The Faraday Rechargeable Battery System is a unique system that will generate electricity through rotational movement of a tire. This can be a bike, a car, or any other transportation vehicle that uses wheels for movement. The kinetic energy that is engendered either by the user or an engine can then be converted into …

Power Protection Analysis For A Ten Bus System, Sean Hanna

Electrical Engineering

Each power system built in the industry requires a protection plan. Undetected faults in a power system can contribute to hazardous conditions, overheating of power devices, low or high system voltages, unbalanced conditions, and blackouts. This senior project is the design of a protection plan for a power system using the software Electric Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP). With ten buses, five transformers, two generators, two motors, and six transmission lines, there are many possibilities for a fault to occur. The Load flow and fault analysis are studied before the system is protected. All components of the system are protected using …

Utilization Of High Efficient Single Phase Motor, Kevin Hua

Electrical Engineering

A Smith Motor is a three phase induction motor that has shunt capacitors parallel to its induction coils. The shunt capacitors provide balance and allow the motor to operate using a single phase power supply. Preliminary studies show that the Smith Motor is more efficient than a single phase induction motor powered by a single phase power supply, but less efficient than a three phase induction motor powered by a three phase power supply. The Smith Motor’s advantage is its ability to operate from a single phase power source instead of having a three phase power source installed. Its limitation …

Voltage Protection System For Ehfem Project, Calvin Abshier, Calvin Xu

Electrical Engineering

The EHFEM project aims to convert the energy generated by exercise in a gym to electrical power and transport said energy to the grid. At the top level, this project includes several components including: a voltage and current protection system, a DC-DC converter, and an inverter. This project improves upon past voltage protection systems [1] [2]. The DC-DC converter takes the user-generated energy from the elliptical trainer and passes it to the grid. The user can generate voltage spikes upwards of 100V, far above the current DC-DC converter’s maximum limit. The voltage protection circuit sits between the energy harvesting machine …

The Electric Reel For Soccer Fields, Stephen Taylor

Electrical Engineering

Painting a soccer field consumes too much time. The process of reeling the string after laying out string along the field needs to improve. As a result, my project addresses improvements in how the workers retrieve the string through the production of an electric reel. This electric reel allows the worker to have control of the speed, direction, and on/off state of the device. Direction control allows the user ability to reel and unwind the string. Variable speed allows the user to control how fast the reel unwinds and reels the string. The device gathers string in an orderly manner …

Sun-Tracking Solar-Powered Led Street Light, Wesley Ballar, Harrison Wong

Electrical Engineering

Street lighting is an essential utility especially in urban and industrialized areas because it provides illumination and safety for vehicles and pedestrians throughout the night. However, street lights are relatively inefficient; they consume large amounts of power from electrical grids and have predetermined operation times that are often non-optimal for the surrounding environment. The Sun-Tracking Solar-Powered LED Street Lamp is a self-sustaining device, built to replace the current lighting sources. The device features sun-tracking capabilities for maximum energy gathering and darkness recognition to establish optimal operation times. The project provides a reliable and enhanced alternative to current street lighting systems.

Sel-311l Overreaching Impedance Pilot Protection Laboratory, Brandon Van Loon

Electrical Engineering

The objective of this senior project is to protect a three terminal transmission line during fault conditions using the SEL-311L microprocessor based relay and communication assisted permissive over-reaching transfer trip protection (POTT). The SEL-311L’s directional distance elements are programmed to trip on internal faults while faults external to the zones of protection are ignored. Upon sensing a fault condition, the relay issues a trip command to the local breaker and a permissive key for tripping to the remote relay via fiber optic communication. When a permissive key is received and all other permissive conditions have been satisfied, the remote relay …

Smaller And More Efficient Ac To Dc Converter For Laptops, Jacob Dye

Electrical Engineering

The goal of this project is to create a laptop charger that does not have a big box converter. This will be better for the user because the big box converter always gets in the way. This will be accomplished by designing a cable that has several smaller components in it. Figure 1 shows a high level block diagram of how this design could look. The cable must still be able to handle all the power requirements of a laptop charger: to convert high voltage AC to the DC charging voltage. It must also be able to vary the current …

Enterprise Smart Outlet, David Faltmier, Matthew Mcgill, Luke Stencel

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of our senior project, Enterprise Smart Outlet, is to create an electrical outlet which will allow enterprise users to monitor and change their power consumption habits on a large scale. The initial goal of this project is to allow consumers to see their power consumption per outlet in real time, and then using that information conform their future habits to help them conserve electrical energy, and more importantly, money. Three requirements for our project to meet our initial goal are, the outlet will work in a standard electrical outlet and be completely compatible with current electrical standards, the …

Department Of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015, Dante C. Carrillo, Dion A. Celebrado, Jenna I. Denhaan, Christian F. Ferrer, Simon D. Hauser, Audrey L. Rempher, Joseph H. Rohrer, Casey S. Smith

Electrical Engineering

The goal of the Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon 2015 project is to design, build, and operate a zero-net energy solar-photovoltaic (solar-PV) powered residence. It is an international competition taking place in the fall of 2015 in Irvine, California. The design needs to be attractive, energy-efficient, innovative, and affordable. The Cal Poly team includes students from a variety of majors, including Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and many more. The different disciplines need to work together to create a functional and cohesive design. For our senior project, we have designed the electrical systems in the home, including the power, …

Design Of A High Powered Led Driver, Omar Renteria

Electrical Engineering

Research has shown that LED lighting products have greater energy efficiency, longer lifespans, and lower heat outputs than compared with traditional lighting technologies. An estimated growth of 45 percent per year through 2019 for the LED lighting market should provide a wider variety of LED related products to consumers. The goal of this project; to create a driving circuit that powers a set of high powered LEDs. The implementation of LEDs significantly reduces the power consumption in comparison with other types of light such as incandescent bulbs or CFLs, therefore saving the consumer money.

Current Protection For The Energy Harvesting From Exercise Machines (Ehfem) Project, Colton Crivelli

Electrical Engineering

The Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) project intends to create an exercise machine that recycles the energy expended by an athlete operating the machine by sending it to the electric grid. The work done by the user goes through a DC-DC converter and an inverter in order to prepare it for delivery to the grid. A protection circuit ensures that the inverter does not try to pull too much current from the DC-DC converter. The project implements a current protection system that ensures the system doesn’t experience an overcurrent condition.

The Dc House Project: Electrical System Design & Construction, John Bradley

Electrical Engineering

This project entails the design and assembly of the photovoltaic system, switchboard panel enclosure, and battery enclosure for the DC House’s main electrical system. The intended purpose of this project is to provide the electrical framework necessary for future students to easily modify and add to this rendition of the DC House. The principle design implements a variety of renewable energy sources, however this senior project only uses solar power in order to maintain a manageable scope. Each of these renewable energy sources are stepped down to a voltage of 24V and input to a Multi Input Single Output DC …

The Zephyr Charge: A Wind-Powered Usb Charger, James Dean Carson, John Pina Lopez Iii

Electrical Engineering

The Zephyr Charge project is to design and build a cell phone charger using a small wind turbine generator that can be useful to the fishermen community, namely fishermen of third world countries. The generator will output to USB for ease of charging capability. The size of the whole system should be light enough to move around, and the turbine itself will be mountable onto an edge of a wall. The goal of this project is to design and build a compact and easy to use cell phone charger, which is also efficient.

In order to be a practical product, …

Design Of A Multiple Input Single Output Dc-Dc Converter For The Dc House Project, Chad Santos, Siby James

Electrical Engineering

This senior project report describes the design and further development of the MISO (multiple input, single output) circuit. The MISO circuit harnesses power from four separate renewable energy sources (hydro, solar, wind and man) and converts it into a single DC output voltage. Though this circuit has been initially designed and tested in previous years, it was only developed enough to use as a test circuit. Further implementation will allow for the MISO to be available in a more practical setting. Professor Taufik will then take the newly designed MISO circuit to implement in a house in Indonesia.