Open Access
Identification of critical parameters for the design of energy management algorithms for Li-ion batteries operating in PV power plants
(IEEE, 2020) Berrueta Irigoyen, Alberto; Soto Cabria, Adrián; Marcos Álvarez, Javier; Parra Laita, Íñigo de la; Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; Ursúa Rubio, Alfredo; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, ReBMS PJUPNA1904; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua, 0011-1411-2018-000029 GERA
Lithium-ion batteries are gaining importance for a variety of applications due to their price decrease and characteristics improvement. For a proper use of such storage systems, an energy management algorithm (EMA) is required. A number of EMAs, with various characteristics, have been published recently, given the diverse nature of battery problems. The EMA of deterministic battery problems is usually based on an optimization algorithm. The selection of such an algorithm depends on a few problem characteristics, which need to be identified and closely analyzed. The aim of this article is to identify the critical optimization problem parameters that determine the most suitable EMA for a Li-ion battery. With this purpose, the starting point is a detailed model of a Li-ion battery. Three EMAs based on the algorithms used to face deterministic problems, namely dynamic, linear, and quadratic programming, are designed to optimize the energy dispatch of such a battery. Using real irradiation and power price data, the results of these EMAs are compared for various case studies. Given that none of the EMAs achieves the best results for all analyzed cases, the problem parameters that determine the most suitable algorithm are identified to be four, i.e., desired computation intensity, characteristics of the battery aging model, battery energy and power capabilities, and the number of optimization variables, which are determined by the number of energy storage systems, the length of the optimization problem, and the desired time step.
Open Access
Role of student associations in the acquisition of competences in university engineering programs
(IEEE, 2023) Samanes Pascual, Javier; Parra Laita, Íñigo de la; Berrueta Irigoyen, Alberto; Rosado Galparsoro, Leyre; Soto Cabria, Adrián; Elizondo Martínez, David; Catalán Ros, Leyre; Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
Students in the STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), do not only require deep technical knowledge, but a complete set of global skills related to management, teamwork, lifelong learning, personal development, communications skills or proactiveness, abilities often referred as soft-skills. Student-led organizations, and specifically, university student associations, are one of the best alternatives to promote the acquisition of soft-skills in STEM high education fields. These skills are competences already included in official university programs that can hardly be addressed or acquired from traditional university education. This article studies how student enrollment in student led organizations (SLOs), with an active participation on their organization and activities, allows engineering students to achieve a better development of these soft skills. As case study, a medium size university, with 9000-students and eleven SLOs, six of them focused on STEM related fields, is used in this paper. A survey is conducted among the university community to identify their degree of participation in SLOs, and to test whether participation in these initiatives increases students' self-perception of their soft skill acquisition during their university studies. This survey shows how students of engineering programs, with a high degree of involvement in SLOs, demonstrated greater confidence in their soft skills at the end of their university years.
Open Access
Building global competencies: a strategic approach to internationalization of engineering education
(Eindhoven University of Technology and Fontys University of Applied Sciences, 2023) Berrueta Irigoyen, Alberto; Samanes Pascual, Javier; Parra Laita, Íñigo de la; Goicoechea Fernández, Javier; Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
International mobility is an essential aspect of undergraduate education that enables students to acquire the necessary competences required by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). However, small universities such as the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), which has approximately 9,000 bachelor's students, face challenges in providing effective mobility opportunities. The most significant hurdles include offering attractive mobility experiences to students and establishing mobility agreements with other universities. Nonetheless, the reduced size of UPNA provides some potential benefits, such as more personalized advice for students and better knowledge of the available destinations. This article discusses the internationalization strategy implemented by the Faculty of Industrial and ICT Engineering at UPNA, which has enabled over 25% of its students to participate in a mobility experience, resulting in a high satisfaction rate. This contribution provides valuable insights into how smaller universities can successfully offer international mobility programmes to their students.
Open Access
Critical comparison of energy management algorithms for lithium-ion batteries in renewable power plants
(IEEE, 2019) Berrueta Irigoyen, Alberto; Soto Cabria, Adrián; García Solano, Miguel; Parra Laita, Íñigo de la; Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; Ursúa Rubio, Alfredo; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Lithium-ion batteries are gaining importance for a variety of applications due to their price decrease and characteristics improvement. A good energy management strategy is required in order to increase the profitability of an energy system using a Li-ion battery for storage. The vast number of management algorithms that has been proposed to optimize the achieved profit, with diverse computational power requirements and using models with different complexity, raise doubts about the suitability of an algorithm and the required computation power for a particular application. The performance of three energy management algorithms based on linear, quadratic, and dynamic programming are compared in this work. A realistic scenario of a medium-sized PV plant with a constraint of peak shaving is used for this comparison. The results achieved by the three algorithms are compared and the grounds of the differences are analyzed. Among the three compared algorithms, the quadratic one seems to be the most suitable for renewableenergy applications, given the undue simplification of the battery aging required by the linear algorithm and the discretization and computational power required by a dynamic algorithm.
Open Access
Hydrogen educational activities developed by APERNA: a renewable-energy student association
(Asociación Española del Hidrógeno, 2016) Berrueta Irigoyen, Alberto; San Martín Biurrun, Idoia; Samanes Pascual, Javier; Pascual Miqueleiz, Julio María; Barrios Rípodas, Ernesto; Parra Laita, Íñigo de la; Urtasun Erburu, Andoni; Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; Ursúa Rubio, Alfredo; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación
In this paper, we present APERNA, a recently-created student association at Public University of Navarre (UPNA) with the aim of promotion of renewable energies.
Open Access
Enhancing engineering competencies curricula in the context of university-industry chairs
(IEEE, 2023) Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; San Martín Biurrun, Idoia; Berrueta Irigoyen, Alberto; Samanes Pascual, Javier; Parra Laita, Íñigo de la; Ursúa Rubio, Alfredo; Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Goicoechea Fernández, Javier; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
University-industry Chairs can play a key role to enhance the acquisition of certain curricular competencies of the Engineering Degrees such as teamwork capability, oral and written communication skills, entrepreneurship initiative and industrial environment knowledge, all of them highly valued and long demanded by the industrial companies. This paper describes the organizational framework and the main programs of the Chair of Renewable Energies of the Public University of Navarre and evaluates how it is contributing effectively to improving the acquisition of these competencies and skills.