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Renewable energy in a box

10 August 2005

A team of Monash engineering students will present their prototype power inverter at an international 'future energy' competition in the US next week.

Mr Luo, left, and Mr Beckett with two models of the Monash prototype power inverter.

The 10 final-year electrical engineering students spent 18 months developing the prototype, which converts energy from renewable sources such as solar panels into electricity for domestic use and then distributes any unused energy to the state or national power grid.

Associate Professor Grahame Holmes of the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering supervised the students, who will participate in the finals of the 2005 International Future Energy Challenge in Denver, Colorado, on 15 August.

The students will compete against teams from the US, Germany, Brazil and South Korea, all of which have designed power inverters.

Monash team co-leader Mr John Luo said the winning team would have the prototype with the best design specifications and most economic production costs.

"Our inverter is contained in a small box, and it would be very cheap to build," Mr Luo said. "It would be ideal for developing countries where the electricity supply can be unstable.

"As the only Australian team, we are committed to demonstrating that Australia is able to develop leading-edge technologies that can compete on an international level.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to represent Monash University and the young engineers of Australia," he said.

The Monash team has received financial support from the university and industry sponsors to build the prototype and travel to the US. The competition is organised by the Power Electronics Society of the Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers.

For more details about the competition, visit the 2005 International Future Energy Challenge website. For more details about the Monash team, visit the Monash Future Energy Challenge team website.