College of Engineering Unit:
Welcome to MIME.804, DC Gridless Power Distribution! This project is the first iteration, in what hopes to be, an iterative capstone project worked on by senior engineering students for years to come. It aims to use DC power to provide electrical access to individuals and communities who are not served by the grid, namely people experiencing homelessness and those in disaster areas. Electricity provides for many important functions in daily life like cooking, charging smart devices, and heating. With this project, the team hopes to minimize the hardships faced by these individuals until a more permanent solution can be reached.
This prototype takes the form of a counter where operators may stand and operate electrical devices. The electrical system is stored in a compartment underneath the countertop. The counter is covered by a slanted roof that may be used to mount solar panels.
The current prototype acts as a proof of concept. It has a 12 volt absorbent glass mat car battery connected to a DC-AC inverter. This is used to power a hot-plate, drill, and other devices that users may plug in. Due to the constraints of the battery and the inverter, the current prototype can only output a maximum of 1000 Watts of power for about 1.5 hours, but these can easily be upgraded.
This project will hopefully be expanded upon and perfected by future students. It is our vision that the current battery system will be replaced by a higher-capacity recycled lithium-ion electric vehicle battery. The team hopes to see the integration of solar power for recharging the battery. There is still a significant way to go before this project is ready for deployment, but this product has the potential to be a plug and play base module that can be modified based on the electrical needs of the particular user’s environment.
Industry Sponsor(s):
Project Communication Piece(s):
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 DC Gridless Power Distribution | 964.5 KB |