Integrated Solar and Piezoelectric Renewable Energy Project

Abstract

Herb Hess is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Idaho, where he teaches subjects in He received the PhD Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993. His research and teaching interests are in power electronics, electric machines and drives, electrical power systems, and analog/mixed signal electronics. He has taught senior capstone design since 1985 at several universities. Dr. Saied Hemati, University of Idaho, MoscowSaied Hemati received the bachelor's and master's degrees in electronics engineering from Isfahan University of Technology, in 1993 and 1997, respectively, and the doctorate in electrical engineering from Carleton University, in 2005.He has worked in various research positions within the electronics industry and academia in Iran, Canada, Sweden, and the USA. He is the recipient of several awards an scholarships within all of the same nations. He joined the University of Idaho in 2013. His research interests include the theory of operation and the design and implementation of iterative error-correcting decoders.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2017 Integrated Solar and Piezoelectric Renewable Energy ProjectAbstract-Small photovoltaic energy collection systems are readily available in a wide range of forms, from various do-it-yourself project instructions to plug-and-play demonstrators. Piezoelectric energy collection systems are likewise readily available, though some assembly may be required. Each can capture energy and store that energy in a battery. Various indicators and communications hardware sometimes accompany such photovoltaic systems. This paper describes an undergraduate student project that integrates energy collection by means of a combined photovoltaic and piezoelectric system, communicating the process wirelessly to an LCD display. The students learn and apply basic engineering skills, including the important skill of specifying and combining several subsystems, each of which may already be well known, into a creative end product. The project administration is interdisciplinary. The Mechanical Engineering Department administers the first semester. The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department administers the second semester. This paper addresses technical issues of creating such an integrated photovoltaic / piezoelectric energy collection system with communications and display. There are pedagogical issues in administering a two-department senior design project. An assessment of these issues is presented.