An Exploration of Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithms

This project investigated the performance of various solar maximum power point tracking algorithms on a single hardware platform. It also developed a low-cost hardware platform including a rudimentary solar cell emulator circuit and a maximum power point tracker circuit to test these algorithms. Additionally, the project covered the development of the two software algorithms that were tested in the project: the ”Sweep” algorithm and the ”Perturb and Observe” algorithm

Energy Monitoring For Sustainability

This project developed recommendations to the WPI Facilities department on the implementation of building submetering in the context of sustainability. The project analyzed other universities’ submetering strategies through three case studies, WPI’s current infrastructure via collaboration with Facilities, and the WPI community’s desire for the implementation of such a system through a survey of students and staff. An energy monitoring system would enable savings through other projects that would be difficult or impossible without the data provided by an energy monitoring system