מבט כולל

 
המחקר המבוצע במרכז המצויינות לאנרגיה חלופית עוסק בנושאים הקשורים באנרגיה בצורותיה השונות החל במערכות של אנרגיה חלופית (שמש, רוח ומים) ועד נושאים של רשת החשמל העתידית "רשת חכמה" (Smart Grid).
חברי קבוצת המחקר כבר זכו בהשתתפות במחקר יוקרתי שממומן על ידי מדען ראשי ושואפים ליצור עוד מחקרים ושיתופי פעולה מדעיים שיובילו לזכיות נוספות ולפרסומים מדעיים רבים.
המחקר במרכז המצויינות מבוצע ע"י חוקרים מהמכון ואנשי תעשייה מובילים מתחומי האנרגיה השונים. לקבוצת המחקר צורפו חוקרים המתמחים בעיצוב, מנהל המשק והאחזקה של המכון וכן סטודנטים הלומדים במכון.
 
Photovoltaic devices and system, and energy harvesting
  1. Pixolar - Solar Cell- A novel high efficient low cost solar cell with an innovative lateral configuration.
  2. DC Bus system and Bi-Directional Inverter for Distributed Sources Topologies with Renewable Energy Generators-This system is designated for small to medium loads of up to 15kW, with modularity capabilities for future expansion. The system is based on conversion of all types of sources to DC for the elimination of synchronization problems, harmonics and flexible energy management.
  3. Energy harvesting from various sources- the development of a line of systems that can harvest small amounts of energy from various natural energy sources for the operation of small systems such as sensors or photovoltaic cells and modules.
 
 
Smart Grid research:
  1. Demand Response- efficient use of scattered sources. A model designed for managing the resources and the loads in the grid. The model addresses the logical as well as the hierarchy level of the grid. This model is a control algorithm and a decision making tool for smart grids management.
  2. Forecasting – PSS - Prediction Support System through data mining-A research that can lead to prediction systems that support Smart Grids control decisions.
  3. Expert System for Monitoring Power Quality- analyzing currents and voltages in structures or in wider areas. Finding failures in the system and their location. Analyzing the behavior of the failure. Produce diagnostics of the failure and its origin (grid or load). Compress and sort the vast amount of data.
  4. Carrier Smart Control System (CSMS) –The goal of "Chiller Smart Management System (CSMS)" project is to manage chiller's set point according to weather conditions, thus saving at least 30% of HVAC energy expenses, without affecting the in-room temperature. The system discovers automatically thermal storage capacities of the facility to shift energy usage from peak, to off peak hours.
  5. Self-Healing capabilities- the development of self-healing of a power grid in the case of generation abruption by means of controlling vast amount of small consumers.
  6. Roll back capabilities- a scenario of recovering the communication and metering devices in smart grid after a cyber-attack.
  7. PV-generation control- a scheme of controlling large amount of "soft” sources such as PV generators in order to control voltage regulation and minimizing losses in the grid.
  8. Smart grid Simulator- a simulator of the energy devices in Smart Grid such as: generation, PV, Wind turbines, Electric Vehicles and loads with the presence of central and local control by smart devices. This simulator is a tool for system designers for visibility and robustness of the system.
  9. Power flow optimization- optimal algorithms for calculating the sensitivity of the grid to various parameters such as: the topology, change in generation, EV taking into account dynamic pricing.
  10. Smart monitor module- A 250$ module for currents and voltages monitoring for smart grid analysis (power quality , faults, data mining).