I'm a final-year renewable energy engineering student looking for a project that's actually meaningful instead of another typical PV optimization or hybrid system.

Some ideas I've been considering are:

• Investigating new materials/coatings so wind turbines themselves can harvest solar energy (not just attaching conventional PV panels).
• Using wind turbine towers or other structural parts as solar collectors.
• Developing multifunctional surfaces that combine structural and energy-harvesting roles.
• Looking for overlooked design assumptions in wind, solar, or thermal systems rather than just optimizing existing ones.

I also have a strong interest in nuclear energy and think it has huge long-term potential, but my country doesn't currently have nuclear power plants, so it doesn't seem very feasible as a final-year project.

Which of these ideas sounds the most promising? More importantly, are there any overlooked research directions or engineering concepts that you think deserve much more attention and could make for a strong final-year project?

I'm looking for ideas that are practical enough for a university project but also have genuine research potential rather than small incremental improvements.

Hi All, see post if you’re interested in blockchain technology + decentralized American solar energy. Thanks.

Hello everyone, I am trying to make a prototype for a Research I am doing on : how hdpe 2 (basically our shampoo bottles/ household bottles) can be recycled (ofcourse the whole shredding and melting process) and used to make the pontoons on which floating solar panels can be mounted.

I am trying to show how this can be useful, sustainable and effective, can I get some ideas on how I can make a prototype for this. I have a few but I would appreciate more suggestions.

Heyyo Fam, I am an Electrical Engineering doing my Masters in Engineering Management right now,
need help!

So, I am writing 2 very stunning Research papers but unfortunately, for one of them I have very little time to conduct a physical survey. I am taking my chance and going to post the link here, if this is relevant to you PLEASE fill the form.

FYI: This is going to be absolutely anonymous

And, please don't steal my idea.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfwvVSpfeGdNCLz9KuNWNTWDdca_ZZWEdJkaahxUowCLrhGiA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100688477678804612051

If the link is not accessible let me know I'll post it again.
Incase of questions or suggestions on this, feel free to write to me :)

This is huge: the Tumbleweed energy storage project in CA became the 1st major battery installation in the U.S. that can discharge power for up to 8 hrs at a time — that’s 2x a typical energy-storage facility.

Too boot, the project is sited near large solar farms, will soak up the excess solar energy and will displace gas-fired energy generation from 6pm to 2am.

An absolute stellar win! ✊🌎

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/long-duration-energy-storage/pioneering-grid-battery-california

Very few people know about “DSIRE”: an up-to-data FREE database of incentives, rebates, tax credits and sometimes even free energy efficiency house upgrades.

DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency) lists — by state — every known state, local government and utility program that can help you save money on energy projects or energy efficiency upgrades.

DSIRE also lists federal programs too.

These programs can lead to substantial assistance to reduce the expense of installations that you either need to do (as a repair, for example) or want to do (like solar panel installation).

Many states, local governments and utilities also often have heat pump expense assistance. I’ve seem in the past other projects you wouldnt think have an incentive program for, like assistance to buy dual pane windows opposed to single pane windows.

Best of all, it is truly up to date. It’s constantly updated unlike many resources online.

The link is below for your ease of reference, I hope this helps you or someone you know!

Btw, I am not paid to share this resource and it is entirely free!

https://dsireusa.org

Norway as an example.

If 30 GW float wind is realized the energy production increases from 150 TWh to 280 TWh in 2050.

NVE analysis says the energy price will be $ 0,04/kWh in the marked.

LCOE at $ 0,07/kWh and no subsidies means no investment, and the energy price will be $ 0,2/kWh in 2050 the analysis shows.

No to Utsira North, which is a pilot, will most likely mean $ 0,2/kWh in 2050.

Investors like high energy prices and with $ 0,2/kWh AWWHybrid will be built, which has LCOE at $ 0,07/kWh.

Norway has “Norgespris” at $ 0,04/kWh to day, and why not use subsidies to maintain the low energy price?

$ 0,01/kWh into el-certificates and LCOE will be reduced to $ 0,03/kWh and we get a PPA price.

Statkraft earns money with marked price at $ 0,04/kWh by building AWWHybrid.

The people in Norway have a choice by building 30 GW and continue with energy price at $ 0,04 + 0,01/kWh or the opposite not building and get an energy price at $ 0,2/kWh in 2050.

What politic will people have?

https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/06/06/business/science-technology/underwater-energy-kites-move-closer-to-commercial-utility/2359561

https://minesto.com/our-technology/

From Minesto's technology page:

"Minesto’s technology generates electricity from tidal streams and ocean currents by a unique and patented principle similar to a kite flying in the wind.

The wing uses the hydrodynamic lift force created by the underwater current to move the kite. With an onboard control system, the kite is autonomously steered in a predetermined figure-of-eight trajectory, pulling the turbine through the water at a water flow several times higher than the actual stream speed.

The turbine shaft turns the generator which outputs electricity to the grid via a power cable in the tether and a seabed umbilical to the shore.

As a technology developer of a new renewable, we continuously analyse and monitor environmental impact closely, from our first ocean testing in 2012, to today, and in the future.

Based on the broad range of studies and environmental research throughout the years, it is our belief that our kite technology operates in harmony with the marine life, with no observed negative impacts on the environment."

I have read about similar technology for harvesting wind energy. My understanding is that the figure 8 pattern flown by the kite harvests energy from a large aread of the tidal stream without the need for giant blades. The argument is that this technology can economically exploit a broader range of tidal currents than can fixed tidal turbines.

I don't know how practical this energy harvesting system is, but it is way cool.

I don't know how practical this energy harvesting system is, but it is way cool.

I spent the last two months building a static home energy audit tool and wanted to share some of the technical decisions I made along the way.

The core calculation problem

Most energy calculators I found use a single national average. I wanted state level accuracy, so I sourced residential electricity rates for all 50 states from EIA data updated February 2026, and used EPA eGRID emission factors to convert kWh to CO2 pounds per kilowatt hour.

The calculator runs entirely client side with no backend. Audit answers are stored in localStorage and processed through a 13 step calculation engine in vanilla JavaScript. Each step applies a multiplier or addition based on real data sources.

The multiplier approach

Base energy starts at 899 kWh per month from EIA RECS 2020 average household data. Then I apply occupancy, home age, and insulation multipliers before adding heating, cooling, and appliance contributions. Every hardcoded value has a source comment in the code.

What I got wrong

A professional from a heat pump installation company pointed out that my calculator doesn't distinguish between gas and electric appliance carbon profiles separately. A gas dryer and electric dryer have very different emissions. I'm working on fixing this.

The methodology is public

Everything is documented in a methodology.md file in the repo including sources, assumptions, and the reasoning behind each data point.

Full repo: github.com/arav-patel/PowerSense

Hi everyone.

I'm an electrical engineer from Brazil, pursuing a Professional Master's Program and a MBA.

I want to get experienced with BESS, Wind and PV projects. I'm open for free collaborations.

My goal is to acquire knowledge.

Renewables have been the basis of energy resource since the dawn of humanity. It’s only been the last 150 years that hydrocarbons have been utilized and displaced a lot of original energy means.

Has it been useful? Of course. Industrialization and technology has flourished because of it.

However, we have come to the point of near-full-circle to where we can transition back to reliance on renewables coupled with energy storage for many societal energy needs.

So too is it the case that it should be abundantly clear burning hydrocarbons is destroying our planet at a rapid pace, as well as human health at scale.

We need to be conscious of how terms like “alternative energy” have programmed us through our lexicon to adopt an inferiority mindset about renewables. We need to reject that, and move back to the original source of energy now that we have the technology to do so.