Google launches $1m power inverter challenge
1 min read
Calling all power electronics engineers and inventors! If you think you can figure out how to shrink a power inverter down to the size of a small laptop (roughly 1/10th its current size), Google wants to hear from you.
In collaboration with the IEEE, the search engine giant has launched a $1million competition aimed at finding a kW scale inverter with a power density greater than 50W/in3.
The Little Box Challenge is open to individuals, teams, companies and academics from around the world.
"There will be obstacles to overcome (like the conventional wisdom of engineering), but whoever gets it done will help change the future of electricity," said Google in a blog post. "A smaller inverter could help create low cost microgrids in remote parts of the world. Or allow you to keep the lights on during a blackout via your electric car's battery. Or enable advances we haven't even thought of yet."
Specifically, Google says the device must:
• Be able to handle up to 2kVA loads, with power factors of 0.7 1, leading or lagging
• Output at a frequency of 59.760.3Hz
• Fit into a rectangular enclosure of no more than 40in with no dimension smaller than 0.5in and no dimension greater than 20in
• Have an input ripple voltage of < 3% when driven off a 450V supply in series with a 10Ω resistor
• Have a minimum DC to AC conversion efficiency of 95 %
• Adhere to the limits on electromagnetic interference specified in FCC Part 15 B
• Have a long operating life with minimal service requirements
The award application deadline is 30 September. Up to 18 finalists will be notified of their selection for final testing in October before the grand prize winner is announced in January 2016.
For more info, go to www.littleboxchallenge.com.