Archive

From 14 January 2022 onwards, TU Delft celebrates its 180th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we want to highlight our role in the energy transition.

The ESE department had some nice representation in the news these past few weeks. A couple of platforms in the media discussed or contacted the ESE department for a story.

In order to ensure that the electricity grid is prepared for the future, TU Delft, the Dutch government and partners including grid operator TenneT have joined forces to build a brand-new laboratory: the Electrical Sustainable Power Lab, otherwise known as the ESP Lab. The laboratory – described as a ‘veritable temple of sustainability’ – will be officially opened on the afternoon of Friday, 1 October 2021.

The 10 stamps artistically show that innovations from Delft can be found in a wide range of fields.

The energy transition is the biggest societal challenge of this century. To achieve the climate targets, the Netherlands needs to generate much more solar and wind energy. But is our electricity grid even ready for this? Unfortunately not. To tackle this challenge, TU Delft has recently built a brand new lab, the Electrical Sustainable Power Lab (ESP Lab).

Energy transition is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The transition to sustainable energy is complex and requires change at multiple levels. Three Delft research groups, with an grant from NWO, will conduct research into system integration within the energy transition.

ESE is representing some talent at the EWInners page.

An international photovoltaics working group has developed a new transparent material to serve as a top layer for solar cells, based on nanocrystals. According to simulations performed by the participating TU Delft researchers, this layer can increase the efficiency of mass-produced solar cells to within a percent of their practical limit.

If it is up to Patrizio Manganiello, the city of the future will not only run on solar energy, but we will also use the solar infrastructure for lightning-fast communication.

Wireless E-bike charging station co-developed by DCE&S and Tiler reported in Algemeen Dagblad

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has allocated 5.7 million euro to FLEXINet. In the upcoming years, the FLEXINet consortium will develop hybrid energy storage systems – capable of storing both heat and electricity. Pavol Bauer, professor at TU Delft and project leader and coordinator: ‘The aim of FLEXINet is a system that accelerates the energy transition. We hope to make a substantial contribution to reaching climate targets by cleverly combining various techniques – think of blending recycled batteries with flexible heat pumps and the charging of electric cars.’

The project “Protection of Future Power System Crucial Components (PRoteuS)” of Marjan Popov is one of the six projects which has been awarded by NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences within the Open Technology Programme (OTP).

Imagine you’re looking at a skyscraper. Every single piece of their surface is generating and storing its own electricity!

The 10th edition of the IEEE PES ISGT Europe Conference, a flagship conference of IEEE Power & Energy Society, was hosted by the TU Delft this year. It was very successfully organized in a virtual fashion. Participants joined from 47 different countries, spread over five continents, with more than 30% having an affiliation outside Europe.

Best Paper Award for the 2020 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference to TU Delft

The installation of solar panels is one of the many ways to make the built environment more sustainable. However, the investment required to purchase and install the panels can prevent homeowners, businesses and governments from taking the risk. The efficiency of the solar panels depends on many factors, like the location and the angle in which they are installed. Therefore, researchers at TU Delft have now developed a calculation tool that can accurately calculate how long it takes to recoup the purchase of the panels.

In 2015, hackers attacked the power grid in Ukraine, leaving at least 230,000 people without power for six hours. This incident inspired Kaikai Pan to devise an algorithm that can make smart power grids more secure. ‘We try to look into the hacker’s brain to understand what steps they take. We then aim to use that knowledge to make the grid more secure.’

The Dutch PV Portal has been created to provide publically accessible information on solar energy in the Netherlands, based on scientific research performed by the Photovoltaic Materials and Devices (PVMD) group at Delft University of Technology. The website combines the modelling expertise of the PVMD group with real-time and historical weather measurements of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) to create a realistic assessment of the potential for solar energy generation in the Netherlands. With the Dutch PV Portal, the PVMD group hopes to increase the public understanding of solar energy and contribute to the application of photovoltaics as an energy source.

Onder de vlag van het Joint Solar Programme III werken 4 Nederlandse onderzoeksinstellingen in samenwerking met onder meer Shell aan de zonnecel van de toekomst: een hybride tandemzonnecel met 30 procent rendement.

In May 2020, the strategic cooperation between TenneT and TU Delft/EWI reached a new level. EWI dean John Schmitz and TenneT COO Ben Voorhorst signed a non-disclosure agreement on network data and historical data.

Nodes article: Developing a digital twin for the new energy grid, Peter Palensky

Best Paper Award for the 2018 IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics to TU Delft

From 7 – 9 October 2019 the Cigre C4 International Colloquium on Lightning and Power Systems took place at Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Technical Mathematics and Computer Science.

PhD-student Andres Calcabrini from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) received the Best Student Award at the 36th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EUPVSEC).

The e-bike has become an integral part of our everyday life, but how do charging systems take us one step further?

In order to achieve the climate targets, the Netherlands needs to generate much more electricity using the sun and wind. But is our electricity network even ready for that? Unfortunately not. In order to tackle this gigantic challenge, TU Delft is currently building a brand new laboratory: the Electrical Sustainable Powerlab, aka the ESP Lab.

The project "Colour coated solar panels for the built environment” is awarded for funding by NWO and will kick off in September.

Professor Arno Smets has been named one of the first Mission Innovation Champions, a new initiative to honour pioneers in the field of clean energy.

The e-bike has become an integral part of our everyday life, but how do charging systems take us one step further?

TU Delft researchers have developed a new approach for calculating fast and accurate the solar energy potential of surfaces in the urban environment. The new approach can significantly help architects and urban planners to incorporate photovoltaic (solar power) technology in their designs. The findings were presented on Monday 4 February in Nature Energy.

...the solar battery charger for electric cars made by EEMCS’ Gautham Ram!

At the IDTechShow! the prize for the “most significant new innovation in hybrid or pure electric vehicles” whether by land, water or air was awarded to Pavol Bauer, Gautham Ram (TU Delft) and Menno Kardolus (PRelectronics).

Researcher Gautham Ram Chandra Mouli developed a system which charges electric cars quickly and directly using solar power. On Monday 26 March, he will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on this subject.