The International Future Energy Challenge (IFEC) is an international student competition for innovation, conservation, and effective use of electrical energy. The competition is open to college and university student teams from recognized engineering programs in any location. The 2013 competition addresses two broad topic areas:
Topic (A) Highly efficient microinverter for photovoltaic panels: To develop low-cost power processing systems that support the rooftop photovoltaic (PV) installations to provide non-utility and ultra-clean residential electricity.
Topic (B) Low power off-line light-emitting diode (LED) driver with long lifetime: To develop an off-line LED driver supplied from universal AC input. The input should have high power factor to avoid any potential pollution to the grid. Additionally, the conventional electrolytic capacitor for energy storage in the circuit should be eliminated to improve the reliability of the LED driver.
Participation is on a proposal basis. Those schools that are interested must submit a proposal no later than September 15th, 2012. The electronic copy of the proposal in PDF format must be sent to the respective topic chair via email and with copy to the IFEC 2013 chairman. Proposals will be judged by a distinguished panel of volunteer experts from the IEEE and from industry. Schools with successful proposals will be notified by November 1st, 2012. Major sponsor of the 2013 competition is the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS).