24 lines
1.2 KiB
Markdown
24 lines
1.2 KiB
Markdown
Title: Solar Car
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Date: 2013-04-27
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Category: Projects
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Summary: About my time volunteering with the University of Calgary Solar Car Team, where I designed a maximum power point tracker.
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I joined the University of Calgary Solar Car Team in my first semester for a
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chance to learn things, gain practical experience, and meet people that share my
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interests. The car was the top Canadian team in a 3000 km race from Darwin to
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Adelaide, Australia in 2011. We met up at a shop on campus every Saturday
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morning to work on the new Generation IV of the solar car.
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![the MPPT device, a printed circuit board with bulky round electrical components held in my hand]({static}/images/solar-car/solar1.jpg)
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## The Helianthus MPPT
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I was in charge of designing and assembling the MPPTs (maximum power point
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trackers) for the new generation solar car. An MPPT extracts as much power out
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of the solar cells as possible. The solar array operates less efficiently
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without them. The Generation IV car, Schulich Delta (pictured below) uses seven
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of them: one per section of solar cells with similar lighting conditions. Andrei
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and I designed the MPPT above.
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![the solar car from an angle with a driver inside]({static}/images/solar-car/solar2.jpg)
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