Cal Poly Sustainable power for Electrical Resources (SuPER) project

The Cal Poly Sustainable Power for Electrical Resources (SuPER) project is developing a low-cost, sustainable source of electrical power for a family unit for the 2 billion people with no access to electricity. After two years, the initial prototype system uses a solar photovoltaic source with battery storage, provides a standard DC output voltage, is digitally controlled, and is documented as an open source product. A complete Matlab/Simulink simulation model is validated with measurements from the prototype. The SuPER system design goals are for a 20 year life cycle with a mean time between failure (MTBF) of 25 years, a mean time to repair (MTTR) of 1 hour after receiving parts at the site, and a cost to manufacture of $500. All the work is being done at Cal Poly using undergraduate student senior projects and graduate student master theses, and field testing will be done at the Cal Poly Organic Farm.