Development of optimized electrical architecture for solar-powered refrigerated trailers

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Around the world, refrigerated trailers for transporting food and medicine currently utilize a separate diesel generator to power a refrigeration unit mounted to the trailer. This generator consumes approximately one litre of fuel per hour and amounts to 21 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year per trailer. Westhill Innovation has developed solar technology which is integrated onto the trailer roofs to allow clean solar energy to replace this diesel generator, which is equivalent to removing 7 combustion vehicles from the road. A complex power electronic architecture is required to transfer power between the solar panels, the on-board battery, the three-phase grid connection, and the electrical input of the refrigeration unit, all which require different voltage levels. Westhill Innovation's first solar trailer prototype was built using off-the-shelf power electronic components which were pieced together to get the job done. While this was a great step towards commercializing the solar trailer product, the size and mass of the current electrical architecture is too large to be commercially attractive. This project will investigate state-of-the-art power electronic topologies and components to design, build, and test an optimized electrical architecture to meet the needs of this unique application with high efficiency and a small size. This project will benefit Canada is three ways: (i) develop technology that will help a small Canadian company expand production and sales, with a clear path to becoming a world leader in the solar trailer field, (ii) with the advancement of solar trailers in Canada, harmful diesel emissions will be reduced, and (iii) produce highly-qualified personnel trained in the critical area of power electronics, which is a much needed skill for many local engineering companies.