Internship – Solar Charger Application Development

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 in Ethiopia where a field test will be implemented

The Internship: Solar Charger App

The rural electrification project is characterized by its modularity where electricity is introduced gradually. In the first stage, users can purchase energy from a solar charging station located within a local kiosk. 

The internship will consist of developing an app that will serve as an interface between the hardware, the users and the local business-owner. The app will offer the possibility to identify the user that is connected to the charging station, keep track of the consumption habits and store the data. The app will later also function as a payment interface.

Competences

  • A background in Electrical Engineering or similar.
  • Basic knowledge of Power Electronics
  • Good understanding of Embedded Systems
  • Familiar with Android OS and its API
  • Writing in Java- or Kotlin-language
  • Adaptable to work in an international environment

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