ABSTRACT
The world has now looked towards installing more renewable energy sources type distributed generation (DG), such as solar photovoltaic DG (SPVDG), because of its advantages to the environment and the quality of power supply it produces. However, these sources' optimal placement and size are determined before their accommodation in the power distribution system (PDS). This is to avoid an increase in power loss and deviations in the voltage profile. Furthermore, in this article, solar PV is integrated with battery energy storage systems (BESS) to compensate for the shortcomings of SPVDG as well as the reduction in peak demand. This paper presented a novel coronavirus herd immunity optimizer algorithm for the optimal accommodation of SPVDG with BESS in the PDS. The proposed algorithm is centered on the herd immunity approach to combat the COVID-19 virus. The problem formulation is focused on the optimal accommodation of SPVDG and BESS to reduce the power loss and enhance the voltage profile of the PDS. Moreover, voltage limits, maximum current limits, and BESS charge-discharge constraints are validated during the optimization. Moreover, the hourly variation of SPVDG generation and load profile with seasonal impact is examined in this study. IEEE 33 and 69 bus PDSs are tested for the development of the presented work. The suggested algorithm showed its effectiveness and accuracy compared to different optimization techniques. © 2023 TÜBÍTAK.
ABSTRACT
This case study examines the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) campus's monthly energy consumption profile in detail to understand how it varies according to academic calendar, seasonal variability, and the recent COVID 19 pandemic. In addition, a detailed assessment of the electricity bill and its sub-component calculations are intended to understand how the energy consumption pattern affects the overall monthly electricity bill. From this study, it is observed that the energy consumption of academic areas, hostel areas, and chiller plants account for 80-90% of total energy consumption. The on-site solar PV energy generation at IITGN campus accounts for 1014% of total monthly energy consumption, which varies greatly by season. The analyses performed in this paper were inferred by three years of historical data of actual energy consumption and monthly electricity bills. Based on the analysis presented in this paper some recommendations towards the energy conservation measures are also given. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The role of energy transition amidst the energy crisis and how policymakers can drive down emissions while focusing on energy security are critical. Given the geo-political situation, energy crisis volatility, energy shortage and climate change all affect the green transition and the short-term priorities for energy companies and policymakers. Energy security is not an isolated issue but has widespread implications as various sectors depend on energy supply to function properly. Governments around the world are faced with this trilemma, how to balance energy security with energy sustainability while also considering energy affordability. Sustainability has been in focus for about a decade. However, energy security is suddenly becoming one of the most important priorities that policymakers need to consider. Unfortunately, the renewable energy infrastructure is not yet ready to replace the growing volume of energy demand from hydrocarbon, which the world has been dependent on. This means, for now, a surge in energy generation through hydrocarbon to meet the existing energy demand deficit. However, it is important not to lose focus on the challenge of energy sustainability and climate change adaption and mitigation. Where trends like carbon capture and storage;solar, wind, hydro, green hydrogen, etc.;renewable energy infrastructure and integrations, with supply chain and engineering services consideration [in aspect for the growing market in this space] need better attention with regards to investment and full-scale implementation. This paper aims to analyze this 1st energy crisis of green transition with a priori on energy poverty with consideration of major influences and associated impacts. Furthermore, it proposes a specific framework for inclusive investigations, which considers the entire energy ecosystem with consideration of major influences, to enable the policymakers to better drive the green transition. This involves formulating energy policies that are not entirely conservative towards renewable energy sources but instead promote investments in both green and relatively more environmentally benign energy sources compared to high emission hydrocarbons. In this regard, this paper renders exhaustive prospects and recommendations. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
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The increasing dependence on renewable energy particularly solar Photovoltaic (PV) to supply energy consumption needs in Jordan has placed operational challenges on the power system operator to cope with the significant drop in the system's net-demand and the reduction in synchronous inertia. These challenges were not expected to become critical until the penetration of renewables increases to meet future national energy targets in the forthcoming years. However, the adoption of lockdowns to restrict the outbreak of COVID-19 combined with PV injections reduced the system's net-demand particularly during daytime in spring 2020 like expected levels in the future with high PV penetration. Thus, the implications of future significant penetration of renewables on system security could be better understood based on the operating conditions during lockdowns. In particular, it is important to assess the system's frequency adequacy during emergency events that might be occurred whilst running a low-inertia power system. To do so, this paper provides a detailed dynamic frequency analysis of the Jordanian power system during lockdowns using Power Factory software. The results highlight the importance of energy curtailment of renewables to maintain adequate level of synchronous inertia to maintain security when the system is islanded without interconnections to neighboring countries. However, deciding the proper level of curtailment requires performing dynamic analysis to ensure that both the Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF) and the minimum frequency level during generation contingency events will not trigger the Under Frequency Load Shedding (UFLS) relays. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the global photovoltaic (PV) market grew significantly again in 2021, further enhancing the vital role of solar power in the battle against global climate change. One of the main reasons for the rapid growth of this market is that PV panels are almost maintenance-free after deployment, thereby low Levelized cost of solar power. However, this does not mean that PV panels will not fail in service. In fact, they may suffer from performance degradation, structural failure, or even complete loss of power generation capacity during operation. If these problems cannot be detected and solved in time, they may also bring significant economic losses to the operators. However, a large-scale solar power plant will contain hundreds of thousands of PV panels. How to quickly identify those defective ones from so many PV panels is a quite challenging issue. The research of this paper is to address this issue with the aid of intelligent image processing technology. In this study, an intelligent PV panel condition monitoring technique is developed using machine learning algorithms. It can rapidly process, analyze and classify the thermal images of PV panels collected from solar power plants. Therefore, it not only can quickly identify those defective PV panels but also can accurately diagnose the defect types of the PV panels. It is deemed that the successful development of such a technology will be of great significance to further strengthen the scientific management of solar power assets. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Energy consumption is one of the most important variables that have an impact on the environment. One of the nations in the world with the highest per capita electrical energy usage is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Many attempts are being made in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to lower energy consumption and electricity consumption to achieve sustainability. In this work, the data on the energy consumption of two mosques in Hail City were analyzed, and the opportunities for energy conservation and the use of solar energy were studied to make mosques sustainable. Annual energy use intensity was determined to be 100 and 121 kWh/m2 for the Al-Khashil and Al-Jamil mosques, respectively. While Al-Khashil's mosque envelope is insulated, energy efficiency measures implemented to the walls of Al-Jamil's mosque resulted in reductions in energy consumption of 27%, 13%, and 6%, respectively. The most effective energy efficiency option is a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system with a high energy efficiency ratio, which can reduce cooling demand by more than 30%. If the condition of Saudi Building Code 601 is met, then it has the potential to cut energy usage by 35.4% and 63.3% for Al-Khashil and Al-Jamil, respectively. Due to coronavirus disease 2019, Al-Khashil's electricity usage was reduced by 58,737 kWh, or 39.9%, in 2020 compared to 2019. When using data from RETScreen and ATLAS, there were inconsistencies of up to 28%, but for DesignBuilder, the findings were the closest to the billing data. The mosques Al-Khashil and Al-Jamil have a combined yearly photovoltaic energy output from the suggested systems of around 135.93 MWh and 33.98 MWh, respectively. For the mosques, Al-Khashil and Al-Jamil, the yearly yield factor and capacity factor were both 1887.9 kWh/kWp/year and 21.9%, respectively. The annual greenhouse gas emission reductions from photovoltaic systems for Al-Khashil and Al-Jamil were 102.9 tCO2 and 25.72 tCO2, respectively. Concerning economics, the following results were obtained: The levelized cost of energy of photovoltaic systems is 0.0901 SR/kWh (0.024 $/kWh);the net present value and internal rate of return for photovoltaic systems are not suitable as a result of the current prices and the system applied in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If the electricity produced from photovoltaic systems is injected into the grid at a rate of 0.32 SR/kWh, which is comparable to the SEC tariff for the mosque or government sector, then the simple payback time is 5.14 years. © The Author(s) 2023.
ABSTRACT
Building Applied Photovoltaics (BAPV) such as Roof-top Solar PV has gained significant attention in recent years for harnessing the untapped potential of renewable energy sources. However, rooftop PV poses hurdles of space restriction and shadowing in densely packed urban residential neighborhoods. This study aims to design and assess the feasibility of an integrated grid-connected Rooftop and Façade Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) for meeting the energy demand of residential buildings on an academic campus. Three distinctive groups of residential typologies have been investigated in this study, categorized based on built area and occupants' past energy usage. Additionally, the variation in the measured Energy Performance index of the three different residential groups is illustrated to pave the path for the development of a typology-based residential energy benchmarking and labelling system. The Solar PV system has been designed for the maximum household energy demand recorded in CoVID-affected years due to high residential electricity usage in this period. The study showcases that integration of façade BIPV for low-rise residential buildings increases the system energy production to up to 62.5 % based on the utilized surface area for active PV. Furthermore, the Net Zero Energy Building (ZEB) potential for each typology has been achieved by integration of the proposed Solar PV, evaluated as a function of the Energy Performance Index (EPI) and Energy Generation Index (EGI). The designed nominal PV power of the proposed grid-connected plant is 5.6 MW, producing 7182 MWh annually, meeting the maximum residential energy demand in the studied academic campus in CoVID affected year. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
ABSTRACT
Among thorny challenges, During the COVID-19, there has been a great deal of attention paid on electric demand for hospitals and critical devices. Beside given unplanned power outages during peak load of summer season nowadays made system so stressful for seamless operation and therefore vulnerable to possible damages. As a remedy, many utilities tend to adapt further renewable energy in the power system as a way to cope with excessive peak demand. In this sense, grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems can cater best to this shortage. In this work, a 100 kW grid-connected photovoltaic system for a practical solar parking lot is modelled. The simulations are decomposed in two cases of mono-facial and bifacial panels, and the comparison study among them is made. As a simulation environment, the PVsyst is used to design and simulate PV systems. The simulation results show that in case of mono-facial module the 150 MWh/yr with an average performance ratio of 77.7% and for a bifacial system the 171.1 MWh/yr with an average performance ratio of 87.31 % can be produced and thus injected to the system. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Rapid urbanization in developing countries has come at great costs in terms of the increasing energy demand. As India is a developing nation, the rising per capita income, and increasing purchasing power of domestic alliances by households, are pushing the household energy demand to rise sharply. Thus, there is a need to move towards the implementation of Net-Zero buildings in the residential sector in India to curb the escalating trend of energy demand. Although Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic has gained attention as a sustainable energy alternative to conventional sources, the potential of façade solar PV for harnessing alternative energy sources remains unexplored. This study aims to design and assess the feasibility of a grid-connected façade solar PV to meet the energy demand of residential complexes in a residential academic campus in India. Three groups of residential complexes based on energy-related user behaviour and built area have been identified in the study. Further, the maximum energy demand recorded in CoVID-affected years has been considered for designing the PV system. The study demonstrates that Façade Solar PV can solely meet 77-82% of the maximum energy demand of each group, and meets the Net-Zero potential for the studied residential typologies. Furthermore, it has been found, that the current residential benchmarking and labeling by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), are largely climate-based and do not correspond with housing typology and built area. Thus, this study proposes a novel energy benchmarking and labelling system, based on the studied housing typology and corresponding energy usage, expressed in terms of the Energy Performance Index (EPI). It is found that the proposed energy efficiency labels for different typologies vary from the existing BEE residential benchmarking labels in terms of the calculated EPI and corresponding star rating when considered for Warm and Humid climatic zone. © 2022 ACM.
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The paper discusses research efforts in combining recent progress in Artificial Intelligence with automated management of solar energy generated in grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems along with their operation- and-maintenance (O&M) and their smart on-grid integration control. The outlined research aligns with the strategy of the European Union joining Digital and Green agendas as two major pillars for the COVID-19 economic recovery in the EU and is a part of the EU funded standardization action under the H2020 StandICT programme coordinated by the author and hosted by the Smart Energy Standards Group of the European Information Technologies Certification Institute (EITCI SESG) in cooperation with the European Solar Network. It also contributes to one of the four primary objectives of the European Green Deal, i.e. to achieve a fully integrated, interconnected and digitalized EU energy market by increasing research oriented towards technical reference standardization aimed at consolidation of the expert community and the technology uptake. © 2021. The Authors. Published by International Solar Energy Society Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Scientific Committee.
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Electrical power dispatch at a minimum cost of operation has been a challenging issue for thermal power stations and has research work has been carried out for decades. It has been observed that day by day resources of conventional energy are depleting so, the world is shifting towards renewable energy sources. This paper presents a novel technique COVID-19 Optimizer Algorithm (CVA) for solving the economic load dispatch problem of solar generation systems and thermal generating plants of a power system. The proposed method can be considered for solving the various types of economic load dispatch (ELD) problem considering numerous constraints viz. ramp rate limit & prohibited operating zones. Simulation results proved that the technique proposed performs way better than other modern optimization algorithms both in terms of quality of result obtained as well as computational efficiency. The robust nature of the CVA technique in solving solar integrated ELD problems can be inferred from the results. © 2022 IEEE.
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Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the global Photovoltaic market once more grew significantly in 2020, mainly on Grid-Connected Systems. The exponential increase of these systems raises new challenges for Smart Grid operators trying to predict load demand. That occurs because of the panels' output uncertainty and the leak of regional models for solar energy prediction. In this paper, we propose a distributed data approach to predict solar energy generated by Photovoltaic Systems. As input, we combine data from a community of solar panel owners and a historical weather website to build our dataset. This paper evaluates two scenarios: predicting regional next-day generation by using weather forecasting and the impact of a new system in that region. We sort the results seasonally and achieved 7% of MAE weighted percentage for summer predictions. © 2022 IEEE.
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This paper provides an effective method for optimal sizing and allocation of DGs & D-STATCOM placement to minimize the actual power losses and improve voltage profile in RDS (Radial Distribution System) with incorporating effect of load growth & load modelling. The technique's legitimacy is tried on the standard IEEE 33-bus RDS by performing load flow analysis after compensating the candidate bus. The outcomes acquired are contrasted with and without the Solar Photovoltaic Panel based DG (PVDG), Wind Turbine based DG (WTDG) and D-STATCOM for minimum actual power loss. Further the changes in the operational circumstances of PVDG and WTDG as well as D-STATCOM, are also investigated in order to fulfil the shifting load profile while preserving the voltage constraint and minimizing real power loss owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The variation in operational setting and the power supplied to the grid for compensating the coal-based generation during the lockdown, pan-India lights off event and Unlock 1 are also studied in the paper. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Country's economic progress rely on the energy which acts as key for development. The energy consumption is on a large scale because of expeditive growth of industries, increased vehicular usage and domestic consumers. The energy produced by fossil fuel causes air pollution which increase the global temperature. To reduce the carbon footprint is a challenging task to conserve the environment. Therefore, people look out for alternative energy sources for power production. In spite of COVID pandemic the energy source which has a rapid growth in last few years is renewable energy sources The developing countries are trying to overwhelm issues relating to generation of power using these conventional energy sources. Solar and wind meet the demand desideratum with the help of converters and controllers. Among these renewable resources most feasible is solar photovoltaic power, because of its unique features such as no rotating parts, doesn't expel any harmful gases, mobility, noiseless that is eco-friendly in nature. Since PV depends on unalterable factors such as irradiance, temperature it suffers from stability, conversion efficiency etc. For extracting maximum power from PV DC-DC converters play a vital role. The converters must have the capability to boost the voltage, reduce ripples and must be stable to meet the needs of Photo Voltaic array - PV Array. Its performance can be further improved by integrating converter with Maximum power point tracking technique. In case of Wind energy system converter must have the capability to have control over reactive power, reduced harmonics, reactive compensation issues. This paper analyses and proposes best converter for PV system that has high gain. © 2022 IEEE.
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The objective of Poland’s energy policy is to guarantee energy security while enhancing economic competitiveness and energy efficiency, thus minimizing the power sector’s environmental impact and optimizing the use of energy resources in the country. Poland is not the only European country to rely on coal for power generation. Historical factors and large coal deposits act as natural barriers to increasing the share of renewable energy in the Polish power sector. Yet, today, environmental concerns and climate change are prompting many countries to move away from fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, are an alternative to traditional energy generated from fossil fuels. However, investors developing solar and wind farms in Poland encounter numerous problems at each stage of the project. These difficulties are associated mainly with the location, technical requirements, infrastructure and formal and legal documents. This study aimed to identify the key factors that influence the development of photovoltaic power stations in Poland, with special emphasis on the choice of location and technical aspects of the investment process. The demand for clean energy and the renewable energy prospects for Poland are discussed based on the example of solar farms. Sixty-seven prospective farm locations were analyzed, and the results of the analysis were used to identify the main barriers and opportunities for renewable energy development in Poland. The option of connecting solar farms to the existing power grid was also examined. This study demonstrates that the development of solar farms in Poland is inhibited mainly by technical barriers, in particular the lack of options for connecting farms to the power grid, as well as the absence of support mechanisms and dedicated legislative solutions, rather than environmental obstacles.
ABSTRACT
The paper considers a residential consumer living in Ontario, who is a customer of Hydro One, an electricity transmission and distribution service provider. The customer is the owner of a smart home with smart appliances who can participate in any demand response (DR) program by any communication medium. The customer has a solar photovoltaic set up on the roof, a battery energy storage system, and an electric vehicle with some thermostatically and non-thermostatically controlled appliances. The price tariffs of the country are rapidly changing due to the economic attack of Covid-19. These changing tariffs are considered as scenarios, and the effect of the tariffs on the customer’s electricity bill is analyzed. The scenarios are formulated as a simple mixed integer linear programming problem. All the events are optimized by different DR programs using the CPLEX solver of GAMS software for minimization of the cost. This paper also investigates the peak to average ratio of the power demand in each scenario. Different strategies for controlling the power transfer from the grid are employed as DR programs, and the results are analyzed in detail. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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The energy transition is accelerating the deployment of new renewable energy capacity. In particular, photovoltaic installed cumulative capacity reached 760.4 GWDC at the end of 2020, with 139.4 GWDC installed in a single year despite the economic shock produced by the COVID19 pandemia. On the contrary, part of the public economic expenditure approved to boost the economic recovery is being invested in building new renewable energy capacity. The different scenarios envisaged by the International Energy Agency indicate a strong increase in the share of solar electricity in future energy production worldwide;in particular, the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario points to reaching almost 5 TW of photovoltaic cumulative capacity in 2030 and surpassing 10 TW in 2040. This colossal growth will require the annual manufacture of millions of solar photovoltaic modules and a diversification of photovoltaic technologies in a market dominated by crystalline silicon technology. Although solar radiation is a inexhaustible renewable energy source, the future demand of raw materials and the energy required to manufacture the photovoltaic cells and the environmental impacts of production and operation of photovoltaic systems demands a detailed sustainability analysis of solar electricity. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Agrivoltaic system (AVS) is a conceptual and innovative approach to combining agricultural production with renewable energy. During profound disruption and instability to the energy sectors globally caused by pandemic Covid-19, renewables, especially solar power, are forecast to continue to grow when the world starts to recover from this pandemic. Concurrently, food security issues have become worse and will continue to escalate due to a significant agricultural land decrease. Thus, this conceptual paper describes the core issues of challenges and opportunities for effective dissemination of dual land-use systems (AVS) as an innovative approach and a win-win solution for both productions. The definition and classification of AVS technology, the specification and modification of PV structure for AVS system, and agricultural experts’ concern are discussed in this paper as a suggestion for refinement of AVS technology to increase the rate of adoption by players in the industry. Building renewable energy and agriculture sustainable solutions would ultimately increase global land-use efficiency, minimize agriculture destruction, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Informed and organized efforts to disseminate further this innovation strategy are required if increasing demands for renewables and food security are to be met simultaneously. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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The COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged the world since December 2019 caused disruptions in the engineering education sector as students in African universities were unable to learn virtually. From two recent multi-language, multi-cultural pan-African online surveys to assess the impact on students, over 6,000 responses showed the twin constraints of irregular electric power supply and poor internet connectivity to effectively participate in virtual learning. This project is aimed at developing an affordable and reliable power and communication device for continuous online learning for engineering students, showcasing the strength in Africa's diversity through a collaborative, multinational, multicultural, multi-lingual and gender-sensitive platform to solve this identified global African Engineering Education challenge. A collapsible 100-watt solar photovoltaic module charging a set of lithium batteries via the charge controller was used to power a laptop computer, a mobile phone and a 5-watts bulb simultaneously through a Direct Current/Direct Current (DC/DC) converter. An embedded modem in the device provided the wireless network for internet connectivity. The initial prototypes produced weighed less than 7 kg, and preliminary performance tests showed that the gadget was able to charge up a laptop and two smartphones totaling 45.5WH from 0% to 100% while the remaining backpack state of charge remains 12.8V at 88% (that is 12% depth of discharge). The power supply and communication device for continuous online learning for African engineering students will not only bring engineering solution collaboration among hundreds of engineers, technologists, and technicians from the entire African continent, but will also boost entrepreneurial skills for many African engineering practitioners when fully commercialised. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
In addition to ABET-defined course objectives, goals and outcomes, senior design projects also serve as unique bridges between the academia and the communities. Residents at City of Huntsville-Texas Aquatic Center, a city owned recreation center, have had lacked satisfactory shaded areas particularly when they waited for their children or friends while swimming classes were in session. The residents also needed an easy access to AC outlets for charging their smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices. This paper presents design, construction, and operation of two separate solar Photovoltaic (PV) charging stations at the City of Huntsville Aquatic Center as part of a senior design course requirements in a B.S. in Engineering Technology program. 3D-sketches, electrical circuits, Gantt charts, bill of materials and student experience are provided. This senior project initially began with four undergraduate students with multidisciplinary engineering technology majors in Fall 2019, then extended to Spring 2020 due to the scope of the project, and finally completed in August 2020 by two different senior students due to the graduations and Covid-19 pandemic related challenges. The funding for the project was provided by the City of Huntsville. The students and faculty members involved in the senior design project have served for the community outreach purposes. There are two objectives of this senior design project;(1) to provide more shading for guests and staff members in the aquatic center since the area is missing satisfactory shading, (2) to help the city for improving its sustainability efforts by providing renewable energy-based charging stations. Since the project was completed in Summer 2020, the PV charging stations have been used by aquatic center staff and guests extensively both during the day and evening programs since the charging stations also provide lighting through deep-cycle battery storage. This senior project provided students to use their knowledge and increase hands on and project management skills in a real-life environment. Students worked in the project were majored in interdisciplinary majors in the Department of Engineering technology including Engineering Design, construction management, safety management, and electronics and computer engineering technology. Students were also involved in professional meetings with city officials to discuss and present their project progress efforts. The Mayor's office and the aquatic center staff officials expressed their strong interest to work with B.S. in engineering technology senior students and faculty to design and implement more renewable energy projects in future. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021