ECE 333: Green Electric Energy (SP 2020, SP 2021,SP2022, FA 2023)
Official Description: Electric power grid structure and policy; analysis of wind, solar, and fuels as raw resources; wind turbines and parks; solar cells, modules, arrays and systems; fuel cell power plants; energy and financial performance of green energy projects; integration of green energy into power grid; energy project report and presentation. Course Information: Prerequisite: ECE 205 or ECE 210.
My Description: This is a fun course covering the basics of the power grid and transmission, then diving into the fundamentals of electric energy from wind and solar sources. We derive, from first principles, the energy available in a given area from wind and solar irradiation. We also cover practical aspects, such as wind turbine configurations, generator types, impact of tower height, solar location, seasonal impacts, and material properties.
ECE 464: Power Electronics (FA 2020, FA 2022)
Official Description: Switching functions and methods of control such as pulse-width modulation, phase control, and phase modulation; dc-dc, ac-dc, dc-ac, and ac-ac power converters; power components, including magnetic components and power semiconductor switching devices. Course Information: 3 undergraduate hours. 3 graduate hours. Prerequisite: ECE 342.
My Description: This is a course you want to take if you want to get the basics of analyzing and designing power converters. We cover the basics of power conversion, and analysis topologies in ac-dc, dc-dc, and dc-ac applications. We also explore magnetic circuits for use in isolated converter topologies. In addition to considering ideal converters, we incorporate loss models for non-ideal switches, diodes, capacitors, and magnetic elements. Power electronics are key to several emerging technology fields, so we spend a significant part of the lectures demonstrating power converters in real-world applications.
ECE 469: Power Electronics Laboratory (FA 2020, FA 2022)
Official Description: Circuits and devices used for switching power converters, solid-state motor drives, and power controllers; dc-dc, ac-dc, and dc-ac converters and applications; high-power transistors and magnetic components; design considerations including heat transfer. Course Information: 2 undergraduate hours. 2 graduate hours. Prerequisite: ECE 343; credit or concurrent registration in ECE 464.
My Description: This is a course you want to take to get hands-on experience building power converters. We build and test power converters for ac-dc , dc-dc, and dc-ac applications such as motor drives, battery charging, and solar inverters. The final project is to build a power converter from scratch!
ECE 598 ARS: Advanced Power Electronics (FA 2021, SP 2023)
Official Description: Power electronics are a key enabling technology in renewable distributed energy resources in the electricity grid, vehicle electrification, mobile devices, low-power Internet-of-Things devices, and data centers. This course covers advanced topics in power electronics, including converter topologies, soft-switching and resonant converters, control, inductor and transformer design, and hybrid switched capacitor topologies. Application examples from solar, electric machine drives, and power-supply on a chip will be provided to motivate each topic.
My Description: Once students have learned the basics, this course builds on those fundamentals and introduces more advanced and state-of-the art power electronic concepts. We use more simulation, discuss foundational research papers, and engage in student led discussion.