Efficient Hybrid System for DC Grid Applications
Overview
An efficient photovoltaic PV-battery hybrid system for DC grid applications, which integrate four technologies (Photovoltaic, Energy storage, Direct current and Flexible management system) to improve system efficiency
Technical name of innovation
Efficient Hybrid System for DC Grid Applications
Research completion
31/07/2025
Commercialisation opportunities
IP licensing, Technology co-development
Problem addressed
Problems of nowadays PV - battery energy storage systems including 1) Unstable solar power is a kind of risk causes unstable power grid operation and cannot support the power demand of nighttime human activities 2) light load inefficient power conversion and 3) Slow protection of traditional circuit breakers cannot meet DC system requirement
Innovation
- To power a home / building by Direct Current (DC) instead of nowadays Alternating Current (AC). DC power systems rely on centralized, higher efficiency devices to convert AC to DC power and then distribute to various loads, which can reduce the energy loss dramatically
- SiC-based system with Adaptive Multilevel Converter (AMC) structure to achieve 98%+ efficiency from 20% load
- Solid-state DC Circuit Breaker (SDB) with fault identification in microsecond µs, 100 times faster than traditional circuit breakers
Key impact
- Total project amount HK$16.8M with contribution of HK$8.6M
- DC building power infrastructure technologies will reduce 25% of electricity loss and ~40% cable cost as compared to nowadays AC building power infrastructure
- Estimated can save 79,000 kWh annually for 10,000m² , equivalent to ~39.5 Tons CO₂ emission (~50% carbon reduction)
Application
- DC grid system
- e-mobility
- Energy storage system
Patent
- US Patent No. US11043891 (B1) and CN Patent No. CN113508521 (A)
- US Patent No. US11070045 (B1) and CN Patent No. CN112840517(A)
- US Patent No. US12055601 (B2) and CN Patent application No. 202280004935.X
Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI)
Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness through applied research. ASTRI’s core R&D competence in various areas is grouped under four Technology Divisions: Trust and AI Technologies; Communications Technologies; IoT Sensing and AI Technologies and Integrated Circuits and Systems. It is applied across six core areas which are Smart City, Financial Technologies, New-Industrialisation and Intelligent Manufacturing, Digital Health, Application Specific Integrated Circuits and Metaverse.
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