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	PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2021-0544 Title: Hybrid Renewable Energy Microgrid with Low Operation Cost, Integrating Energy Management Methods Based on Solar Predictions Acronym: HELIoS Project duration: June 2024 - June 2024 Coordinator: Technical University of Cluj-Napoca Partner: West University of Timisoara The project HELIoS aims at improving an existing microgrid that uses multiple types of renewable energy resources by adding smart management methods, with the overall objective to reduce the energy production cost. The new management methods are based on day-ahead scheduling of resources based on intelligent methods combined with real-time control and PV power prediction algorithms. West University of Timisoara (WUT) is partner in the HELIoS project. The WUT team involved in the project, led by Dr. Marius Paulescu, is part of the Solar Energy Research Group - SERG. The research carried out by the WUT team is focused on intra-hour and day-ahead forecasting of solar resources and PV power production, a field in which the team has extensive experience.
	Recent projects
	PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2019-3942 Title: All-sky imager-based solar power forecasting system for smart-grid operation Acronym: ASIFOR Project duration: November 2020- June 2022 The main objective of this project consists in the improvement of PV plant output power forecasts, on the road to smart-grid management. This is planned to be achieved by developing an innovative forecasting tool (ASIFOR) based on tracking the state-of-the-sky using all-sky imager data. The tool consists of three distinctive devices: (1) The computational module, where the forecasting applications developed within this project are implemented and which real-time controls the forecasting process. (2) The PV plant monitoring module which provides radiometric and meteorological data measured in-situ, data required for running the forecasting applications and (3) The state-of-the-sky monitoring module which quantifies and forecasts the relative position of the Sun and clouds by sky image processing taken with a digital fisheye camera. ASIFOR is planned to be developed at a trial product stage TRL4 (the “ugly” prototype in terms of TRL) and validated on the Solar Platform of the West University of Timisoara. The proof of the ASIFOR concept is ensured by the recent results of our team obtained in various domains related to the forecasting of the PV energy production, such as the development of enhanced models for solar resources. The novelty of this proposal is the insertion into the forecasting statistical procedures of the probability that the Sun will be covered or not by clouds, as result from the direct observation of the sky.
	32-ELI/01.09.2016 ELICRYS-2 RO-CERN-Programme ELI-NP Domain Title: Physical and numerical experiments for studying LPA and their interaction with crystalline materials Acronym: ELICRYS-2 Project duration: 2016-2019 In preparation of future experiments at ELI-NP, the current project aims: (1) to optimize through simulations the conditions for laser-based production of very high fluxes of energetic radiations, in particular of protons and gamma rays and (2) - to study the effects of radiation on materials and devices, both at theoretical level through modeling and at experimental level through irradiation with protons and gamma at existing facilities. A team from the Solar Energy Research Group is responsible for fulfilling the fourth objective of the project: acquiring technical and scientific skills aiming to use the ELI-NP facilities for accelerated testing the degradation of the solar cells performance in space-like environment. Beyond the progress in knowledge, it can be thought as a testing service that ELI-NP can provide to manufactures of space solar cells. The activities proposed within this objective target to the development of a numerical tool for evaluating the triple-junction solar cell performance in a well-defined environment (protons energy, flux, cell temperature and level of solar irradiance). Numerical experiments have a crucial role in designing the experimental procedures for accelerated testing the performance solar cells in space-like environment at ELI-NP, in minimizing the number of irradiation experiments and, therefore, in reducing the testing costs.
	PN-III-P2-2-1-PED-2016-0592 Title: PV power forecasting toolkit for smart grid-management Acronym: FORPV Project duration: 2017-2018 The main objective of the project is to build an innovative toolkit (FORPV) for forecasting the energy production of a photovoltaic (PV) plant in the time domain of a few minutes up to one day ahead. The forecasts provided by FORPV must meet two key requirements: (1) to be of high quality and (2) to be effectively structured (as lead times, frequency) in compliance with the needs of the PV plants and grid operators. The eight sets of European regulations for the operators of the transport grids launched in 2016 will be considered. FORPV consists of two distinctive physical parts: (1) The computational unit, where the forecasting applications developed within this project are implemented and which real-time controls the forecasting process; (2) The PV plant monitoring unit which provides radiometric and meteorological data measured in-situ, required for running the forecasting applications. The forecasting toolkit FORPV is planned to be developed at the trial product stage and validated on the Solar Platform of the West University of Timisoara.