High Capacity Lithium Ion Battery for Self-Powered and Sustainable Street Light Unit on GSU Campus

Document Type

Presentation

Presentation Date

4-24-2015

Abstract or Description

In this project, a high capacity Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are used for Self-power Sustainable Light Unit on the streets or parking lots of campus. The high capacity lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are fabricated using high capacity active material. These high-capacity LIBs are then utilized to store the energy harvested from solar panels for street/parting lots lighting. A prototype device is built and installed on campus for testing. An automatic sun light tracking system is fabricated and utilized in our solar panel system maximally transferring solar power to electrical energy. The tracking includes sun light tracking sensors and a controlling motor. The motor will turn the solar panels facing the sun and let the sun light always being perpendicular to the panels for gaining maximum energy transfer rate. Automatic on and off controller is integrated in the system for turning on the light at night and off in day time. Alternatively, we also install a sound sensor so that the street light will not be turned on until walkers are passing by the street lamp to further save energy consumption. The fabricated Self-power High Capacity Sustainable Street Light Unit is installed on the parking lots of Carruth Building for testing and validation now. The short term benefit for GSU campus is to save energy for powering street lamps, and long term benefit is to arouse the importance of energy sustainability via the utilization of advanced science and technologies. The energy saved can be calculated using the following formula:

Number of street lamps x power of street lamp x time=energy saved

Because this project is intrinsically interdisciplinary, undergraduate student researchers have gained a rare opportunity to acquire cutting-edge knowledge and hands-on experience with battery fabrication, battery assembly, battery testing, and operation of solar panels, etc., none of which can be gained in the conventional classroom. More than ten undergraduate students from Mechanical Engineering Department are being involved in this project. More intensive research is being planned and carried out.

Sponsorship/Conference/Institution

Georgia Southern University Research Symposium

Location

Statesboro, GA

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS