Highlights
TASK:
Tim the terrific tutor has been told that he must now work from home due to the global pandemic that everyone is currently facing. To ensure that his work from home setup is appropriate, he needs a reliable energy supply. He has a laptop, USB powered WiFi modem and USB powered study light. Tim is also saving money for a car, so he wants to power these devices in a cost-efficient way. He was recently given a new solar panel that he would like to utilise to keep down the cost. Tim believes that he can put this on his windowsill to help supply some power during the day. From Tim’s electrical engineering knowledge, he knows that the solar panel acts principally as a current source and the WiFi modem as a constant current sink. The laptop battery and study light can each be modelled as a voltage source in series with some internal resistance.He has decided to use a cable (positive and negative connection) to connect the solar panel to the laptop battery, and then two more USB cables to connect the battery to the WiFi modem and study light. The 1 sq mm cable used has a resistance of 0.03 Ω per metre. The circuit for his proposed module is shown below.
(a) Draw a full circuit diagram of the system described above, correctly annotating all circuit components with the values you have been emailed. Where possible, simplify the diagram by combining series and parallel resistances and sources.
(b) The solar panel measurements give parameters which directly apply to a Norton model. However, a Thévenin model will simplify the analysis process. Perform a source transformation on the solar panel and redraw the full circuit, with the Thévenin equivalent model included.
(c) Using a circuit analysis technique of your choosing, calculate the mesh currents and power balance of the system at midday, when the solar panel delivers its rated current. Show all working. Comment on the effectiveness (calculate percentages) of the power transfer from the solar panel to the battery, WiFI Modem, LED lights, and wiring.
(d) Use circuit simulation software to verify your calculations in (c). Capture screenshots of the software showing displayed values of voltages and currents, and then confirm your results.
(e) Assume that on a sunny summer day, the solar panel delivers its rated (midday) current for the equivalent of five hours. If you assume the 6Ah laptop battery begins the day of solar charging (0 hours) at 25% capacity (ie with 1.5Ah of stored charge), how many Amp-hours are stored in the battery at the end of the first day of charging (i.e. after 5 hours)? After the battery charges for 5 hours, how much longer would it take for the laptop battery to become flat, and all of Tim’s devices to stop working? Perform calculations and use circuit simulation software (supported by screenshots) to verify your design.
(f) The study light fails and becomes an open circuit. Calculate the Thévenin equivalent circuit at the point where the failed LED light and series resistor connect. Note: you should remove the existing LED light and its series resistance, and then calculate the Thévenin equivalent circuit for the remaining circuitry at that point. Use the midday circuit.
This EGB120: Engineering Assignment has been solved by our Engineering Experts at My Uni Paper. Our Assignment Writing Experts are efficient to provide a fresh solution to this question. We are serving more than 10000+ Students in Australia, UK & US by helping them to score HD in their academics.Our Experts are well trained to follow all marking rubrics & referencing style.
Be it a used or new solution, the quality of the work submitted by our assignment experts remains unhampered. You may continue to expect the same or even better quality with the used and new assignment solution files respectively. There’s one thing to be noticed that you could choose one between the two and acquire an HD either way. You could choose a new assignment solution file to get yourself an exclusive, plagiarism (with free Turnitin file), expert quality assignment or order an old solution file that was considered worthy of the highest distinction.
© Copyright 2026 My Uni Papers – Student Hustle Made Hassle Free. All rights reserved.