2 minute read
Harnessing the Sun’s Power
Associate Professor Liling Huang and Professor Duminda Wijesekera map out project plans with students. Photo provided
Imagine a day when canopies of solar panels across campus generate enough electricity to meet all of Mason’s power needs. That’s the dream of seven senior engineering students and faculty advisor Liling Huang, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The group created the foundation for this vision with their senior design project. “We designed a microgrid for the Fairfax Campus, which is a localized power system that works alongside the main power grid,” says electrical engineering senior Annam Khan, the project manager. A microgrid is a defined, contained power system, consisting of its own electric loads and sources, she says. “If it is built, one day it would allow Mason to produce the energy it consumes.”
The proposed microgrid would include renewable energy sources, such as solar canopies built over parking lots and parking decks, as well as battery-energy storage systems and electric-vehicle charging stations. Natural gas-fired generators are also a possibility, Khan says. This plan would allow the university to decrease its carbon footprint, become greener, and decrease its electricity bill, Khan says. “Our project takes a big step in tackling the idea of the future power grid at George Mason.”
––Liling Huang, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
––Annam Khan, senior design project manager
In case of a blackout, the Mason microgrid could automatically disconnect from the macrogrid and continue to provide reliable power to the Fairfax Campus, Huang says. The electrical and computer engineering seniors worked on the feasibility and cost of the microgrid. They wanted to make sure the high up-front capital building investment required would pay off later in energy bill savings. Huang says she was impressed with the senior team, especially given the move to distance learning due to COVID-19. “The effort they put into the designs was beyond my expectations. They were self-motivated. I pointed them in one direction, and they ran a couple of miles ahead.”
She plans to have future senior design teams work on this project by taking this year’s plans and “advancing them to build the microgrid one day.” Other members of the senior design team include Andrew Christiansen, Bradley Culebro, Cameron Evans, Sarah Fakhry, William Ferrando, and Tin Vo. The team received support from Dominion Energy, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC), and Mason Facilities.
—Nanci Hellmich
