Efficiency Optimization of MISO Converter

In recent years, there has been a rapidly growing need for sustainable energy sources. This need comes from the increasing threat of climate change, significant population growth, as well as the effort to bring electricity to rural and underdeveloped areas across the world. The DC House project at Cal Poly aims to address these issues. The Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) converter is an integral part of the DC House project. The MISO converter is a system that connects multiple power sources to a DC bus. This allows the DC House to be powered by multiple types of renewable energy sources, including solar power, wind power, hydro power, and human power. The MISO converter has a nominal input of 24V and a nominal output of 48V with a maximum power rating of 150W. Improvements can be made to the current low-cost MISO to increase efficiency and decrease costs. Several considerations that can be implemented include but are not limited to component selections, board size and layout, and more relaxed design constraints especially for those requirements that were met with significant margin. This project entails the second revision of the low-cost MISO Boost converter incorporating improvements as previously mentioned. Simulation results of the proposed design show that the proposed design meet all design requirements including reduced cost and physical size. Hardware implementation unfortunately did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic which caused campus shutdown and thus our inability to access the power electronics lab

Desarrollo de la mancha foliar por Bipolaris maydis (teleomorfo: Cochliobolus heterostrophus) en maíz dulce, en función de nitrógeno, potasio y silicio en invernadero

This work aimed to evaluate the development of the southern corn leaf blight caused by Bipolaris maydis, a common disease in sweet corn, depending on the dose and the accumulated nitrogen, potassium, and silicon, under greenhouse conditions. The treatments consisted of five doses of nitrogen (0, 200, 400, 800, and 1,200 kg/ha), application or not of potassium (240 kg/ha), and application or not of silicon (380 kg/ha). A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 5 x 2 x 2 and three repetitions was used. All the treatments were inoculated on day 30 with a suspension of 2 x 105 conidia by mL of B. maydis. On day 42, the accumulated N, K, and Si were measured, as well as the infection percentage and the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). The treatments that received fertilization with Si and K showed higher accumulation of N, K and Si, and lower levels of disease intensity and AUDPC. The accumulated N, K, and Si exhibited variations compared to the fertilization interactions of K with N, and Si with N; however, the levels of the disease variables were lower in the fertilization with K or Si, combined with the doses of 0, 200 and 400 kg/ha of N.El objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar el desarrollo de la mancha foliar causada por Bipolaris maydis, enfermedad común e          n maíz dulce, según la dosis y el acumulado de nitrógeno, potasio y silicio, en condiciones de invernadero. Los tratamientos consistieron en cinco dosis de nitrógeno (N) (0, 200, 400, 800 y 1.200 kg/ha), aplicación o no de potasio (K) (240 kg/ha) y aplicación o no de silicio (Si) (380 kg/ha). Se empleó un diseño experimental completamente aleatorizado con esquema factorial 5 x 2 x 2 y tres repeticiones. Se inocularon todos los tratamientos a los 30 días con una suspensión de 2 x 105 conidios por mL de B. maydis. A los 42 días se midió la acumulación de N, K y Si, así como el porcentaje de infección y el área bajo la curva de progreso de la enfermedad (ABCPE). Los tratamientos que recibieron fertilización con Si y K presentaron mayores acumulados de N, K y Si, y niveles más bajos de intensidad de ataque y ABCPE. Los acumulados de N, K y Si presentaron variaciones frente a las interacciones de la fertilización de K con N, y de Si con N; sin embargo, los niveles de las variables de la enfermedad fueron menores en la fertilización con K o Si, combinadas con las dosis de 0, 200 y 400 kg/ha de N

Design and Analysis of a Single-Stage Inverter Using Parallel DC-DC Converters for Solar Cell Application

This thesis introduces the design and analysis of a single-stage inverter. A circuit was designed and simulated as a proof of concept to investigate the possibility of using boost and buck-boost converters to provide an AC output. The proposed circuit utilizes non-synchronous boost and buck-boost converters due to their simplicity in control signals as opposed to synchronous converters. The application of the proposed inverter is for use with individual solar cells. The aim of the inverter for a single cell is to improve the efficiency of a solar panel, whose performance is limited to the performance of the least efficient cell. With each cell independent of any other cell in the solar panel, the overall efficiency of the panel can be improved. This circuit uses a 3.6VDC input from the solar cell to produce a 10VPP 60Hz square wave output. The inverter consists of a solar cell, two DC-DC converters, two linear dropout (LDO) regulators, a square wave generator, and a switching circuit . The design and analysis of all parts were investigated individually in detail. The different parts of the circuit were then simulated using LTspice before testing the overall circuit. Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed inverter with all design requirements but efficiency meeting or exceeding the goals