The governments across the globe are determined to expand the role of clean energy technology in the system by formulating a medium to long-term innovation roadmap and conducting major technological research which obviously invigorates the idea that this sector has a huge potential of exponential growth.
Therefore, an effort to make a career in this sector may bear fruitful results in the future and the educational institutions must focus on introducing the learners to modern technologies and real-time knowledge of the industry.
One of the most robust ways to address this challenge is to set up labs and centers where students can access the latest modern technologies under efficient guidance. Several top engineering colleges have taken initiatives to address this challenge. Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at KIET Group of Institutions established a center with similar objectives. We can learn more about the infrastructure and modus operandi of this center here.
Centre of Excellence for Power Engineering Technologies & Clean Energy Integration
The Centre of Excellence for Power Engineering Technologies and Clean Energy Integration is one of the centers of KIET Group of Institutions Ghaziabad established by the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering in March 2019. It is one of the centers in AKTU, working on power engineering applications included clean and renewable energy system technologies.
The objective is to create a platform with a multi-disciplinary environment for experts, researchers, academicians and students of power engineering and renewable energy worldwide. To accommodate this objective, the center provides infrastructural facilities and environment to conduct experiments to understand constraints and requirements of power engineering applications and produce research outcomes/solutions with societal benefits.
The center is well furnished and equipped with advanced research facilities of Opal-RT Real-Time Digital Simulator with access to hardware-in-the-loop capabilities, various types of electrical drives and machines, DSP Trainer Kits, Digital Storage Oscilloscope TPS 2014, 100MHz 4 Isolated Channel Colour Display, Eco-Sense Hardware Simulator for PV Energy Conversion System, Hardware simulator for PMSG based Wind Energy Conversion System, dSpace, Power Quality Analyzers and various application software such as MATLAB, DigSilent Power Factory and PVSyst.
This platform also provides a channel of communication to exchange the experiences and ideas at the global level through various technical programs such as training, workshops, seminars, expert talks and FDPs.
Objectives of the center
- To create a strong association of expertise for the exchange of experiences and ideas
- Research & development in the area of clean and distributed energy systems for grid-connected, standalone, and microgrid applications
- Design and development of E-Vehicles systems as per the Green Mobility Mission
- Conduct technical programs such as training, workshops, seminars, expert talks, schools and FDPs in Advanced Power Engineering Technologies and Clean Energy Integration
- Conduct technology awareness camps and events with KIET IEEE-SIGHT Student Branch in identified rural and remote areas
- To enable the learner to understand the clean energy technologies which include different aspects of clean energy, their importance, advantages compared to conventional energy sources, environmental impacts, economic feasibility, clean energy sources and their socio-economic issues
- To enable the learner to device appropriate technology based on the available resources
Technical Achievements and Activities of the center
The goal of establishing a ‘Center of Excellence for Power Engineering Technologies & Clean Energy Integration’ can only be fulfilled by the continuous research and creation of opportunities for faculty and students to face the challenges and work on various projects. The center has assuaged the desiderata through various strategies.
Numerous technical reports & research papers written by members of the technical committee of the center have been published in various national/international magazines and journals such as — ‘International Transaction on Electrical Energy Systems’, ‘International Journal of Electric Power and Energy Systems’, Energy Future, etc. The center has been granted funding for two research projects from AKTU Lucknow while one is a self-financed project of KIET. Students associated with the center get regular opportunities to participate in various national/international technical events, championships and Hackathons.
Apart from participation, a number of technical activities are organized from time to time by the center. Some of the important events that have been organized by the center within the last two years are-
- Four Week Summer Internship Programme on “Advanced Power Engineering Technologies, Instruments and Green Energy”, June 12- July 09, 2019
- One Week Faculty Development Programme on “Real-Time Simulation and Emerging Technology Applications using MATLAB” January 07-11, 2019.
- Short Term Course and Workshop on “Introduction to Real-Time Simulation and OPAL-RT” June 18-22, 2018.
To sum up, the world is witnessing a clean energy revolution and there are tremendous career opportunities in this sector. The clean energy industry, at present, generates hundreds of billions in economic activity and is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. The educational institutions will have to provide their students and scholars a platform to explore these opportunities.