CQU Project – Transportable and Scalable Clean Energy System

[Chloe HootonParticipant]

Good afternoon,

My name is Chloe, I am a first year electrical engineering student studying at Central Queensland University. I am spokesperson for this project and will be working alongside first year civil students Dominique and Lauren.
This term we are studying ENEG11007: Engineering Industry Project Investigation, and the project we are most interested in is the Engineer’s Without Borders (EWB) Project, the design of a transportable and scalable clean energy system. This system involves the implementation of a sustainable system that can function effectively whilst being transportable, with the purpose of powering the operations of Dawul Wuru on sites with infrastructure.
The selection of this project was chosen due to our team’s overall interest in the discipline of electrical engineering. Our group is dedicated to helping the community, which can be achieved through the development of a sustainable system.
Is it possible to provide our team with support for the duration of this project? This includes providing our team with data and information on power consumption, and energy required on any given site (including large multipurpose sites to small maintenance outstations) to determine appropriate scaling. Additionally, scheduling meetings to discuss project progress or any general queries.

Kind regards,
Chloe

[Jean AquindeKeymaster]

Hi Chloe,

Thanks for getting in touch, and we’re glad to hear that your team is eager to make an impact on the community.

We can support you, but in a limited capacity, as we’re conscious that your academic coordinators/tutors have a significant role in delivering the course unit.

I’ve included some useful links here to kickstart your research activities. For data on power consumption, here are my answers to previous posts:

Engery consumption of the Yirrganydji community

energy requirements

To guide you in scaling the project, check our EWB Challenge FAQs.

Lastly, regarding project progress, you can discuss this with your academic coordinator/tutor, as they have more oversight on the course requirements. We will host a Stakeholders Insight event in the middle of the semester, a space where students can do live Q&A with the EWB Challenge team, so stay tuned for that!

Regards,
Jean

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by Jean Aquinde.

[Dominique SleafordParticipant]

Hi Jean,

Thanks for your help on our previous post. I am another member of this CQU team and had a question about the scalability aspect of the project. Is it recommended that the system we design can be scaled simply by adding more solar panels (we have chosen solar power as our energy producer) or turning some off? Or is it better to utilise transformers to step-up/step-down the voltage/current to adapt to the needs of the site?

Thanks,
Dom

[Jean AquindeKeymaster]

Hi Dom,

Have you checked our EWB Challenge FAQs? I recommended this to Chloe previously. In the first part of that resource, we touched on how to approach the scalability of projects.

I can see how these two solutions might scale your design, and I imagine a reliable energy storage system is essential to your overall strategy. We’d like to see how your team compare these two options in a structured manner. Look at this great example in a 2020 report where the group created a design decision matrix.

To help you define your design criteria, make sure you review the Design Considerations we’ve outlined.

I hope we have provided you with enough information to move forward. 😊

All the best,
Jean

• This reply was modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by Jean Aquinde.

[Chloe HootonParticipant]

Hi Jean,

Based on ‘energy requirements’ data from above (Ergon Energy), we have determined that the demand is approximately 27 MWh per year for four people. However, according to research on the internet, the average demand is approximately 7 MWh per year for four people.
Does this mean our data is unreasonable?

Kind regards,
Chloe

[Jean AquindeKeymaster]

Hi Chloe,

It would be good to evaluate the two resources you’ve found and select which one is more representative of your sample population. For example, In Ergon Energy’s downloadable data, they cited the monthly energy usage per customer per day (kWh) for businesses, residential and properties with solar cells. I can also see that you can view it by postcode or by local government area. The more you know about the scope of project location, the more you’ll be able to make sound judgments on which data to accept.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Jean

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by Jean Aquinde.

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