Internship – Solar Home System Components Firmware

The Company

DC Opportunities R&D is a young start-up located within the company incubator YES!Delft. We focus on developing direct current (DC) solutions that respond to the current energy transition. In this broad context, DC Opportunities is working in various fields including solar home systems, rural electrification, electromobility, and end-user appliances.

YES!Delft building from the inside

The Project: Rural Electrification of Developing Countries

More than a billion people still lack access to electricity, which for most of us is a basic need. While access to electricity is not a solution to poverty, it is a necessary actuator. The most alarming amount of these people live in rural areas of developing countries. The challenges entailed in geographical obstacles together with limited and volatile resources result in the need to develop tailored solutions for these conditions. The goal of this project, therefore, is to develop a modular Solar Home System tailored for this application in order to provide a long-term reliable solution. The prototype of the modular SHS will be field-tested in the near future in Ethiopia during a pilot project.

Unelectrified village of Ethiopia where a field test will be implemented

The Internship: Solar Home System Components Firmware

Our Solar Home Systems consists of various elements including a solar charging station, power-bank, lights & power-hubs among others. Power-flow occurs via USB-C connectors and the components work together to negotiate operating conditions via the power delivery protocol.

During the internship, you will be responsible for programming and testing the PCBs by implementing parameter readings, priority protocols and setting output voltage and current levels.

Representation of the components within our Solar Home System

Competences

  • A background in Electrical Engineering or similar
  • Basic knowledge of Power Electronics
  • Good understanding of Embedded Systems
  • Familiar with programming microcontrollers
  • Writing in C-language
  • Experience with FreeRTOS
  • Adaptable to work in an international environment

If you are interested in the internship or would like to learn more about the project contact us at: lukas.irazusta@dc-opportunities.com