About Lecture: Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems are becoming more popular not just for power generation at grid voltage level but as a distributed generator and remote power supply for low voltage electronic circuits. Their major problem is still the variability of the weather conditions such as solar illumination and ambient temperature. To increase the reliability of overall system, energy storage elements such as lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries are used in conjunction with PV energy systems. Depending on their applications, operation conditions such as partial shading or mismatching of PV generating units can also impede the extraction of the maximum PV power. There have been many DC-DC converters including those in the commercial products designed for controlling the PV operating point such that the power is maximised while partial shading effects can be mitigated. On the other hand, there is another group of DC-DC converters which are used for managing the energy flow involving the energy storage elements. In this talk, we will explore more on the current trends and development of DC-DC converters for PV energy systems integrated with energy storage elements. Following this review, we will discuss on two research questions: (i) is there a converter that can be multi-functional and achieve the control objectives both for PV and energy storage systems? and (ii) how can this converter be implemented and controlled? The applications of this potential research can be explored through this talk and future potential collaborations can be discussed.

About Lecturer:

Dr Ben Chong is a Lecturer at the School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, UK. He received BEng and PhD degrees from the University of Leeds, UK, respectively in 2004 and 2010. He worked as an electrical engineer before his PhD at a hydroelectric power station in Malaysia. Since his PhD, Dr Chong has been working with DC-DC converters for PV energy systems and in particular, he is focusing on the converter solutions for mitigating partial shading effects. He is also currently working on the DC-DC converters used in the energy management of batteries especially for equalisation. Dr Chong is a member of the School’s Institute of Communication and Power Networks and Smart Energy Research Group that focuses on power supplies for modern energy systems including micro-grids, electrified railway systems and renewable energy systems. Dr Chong has more than ten years of experience in delivering MSc courses including his experience as a programme manager for MSc degree in Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy at the University of Leeds. He has an excellent record of accomplishment in delivering research-led student education and is a member of PRiSME, a pedagogy research team in Science, Mathematics and Engineering for the University of Leeds.