Hi ! I am Govind
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Seasoned Electrical engineer with history of successfully designing and deploying best-in-class control systems designed for utility scale and C&I renewable energy projects around the globe targeting to reduce customer’s energy bill, generate revenue and stabilize grid.
SME on various energy storage technologies including Lithium-Ion & Hydrogen batteries, Flow Batteries, fly wheel storage etc
EXPERTISE
Grid Controls
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While at SunPower, I was co-owner of SunPower Grid Controller (SGC) which is a product designed for controlling utility scale solar + storage power plant. I performed hands on coding of this product that was deployed on projects ranging from 500 kw to 679 Mw in USA, Chile, South Africa, Australia and Vietnam.
I have designed controls for volt/q/PF regulation, generation control, frequency response and cap bank. Algorithms I designed have been marked as Trade Secret by SunPower. Link here.
As a product owner of SGC, I used to lead vendor qualification process for solar/battery inverters and capacitor bank systems as well.
Energy Storage
Won PRISM award at SunPower back in 2013 for developing energy storage controller for flow batteries.
Designed (hands on coding) an Energy/Power Management System (EMS) at CE+T aimed at reducing customer's energy bill while providing microgrid support using Lithium, flow batteries and flywheel energy storage system. Link here
I have designed control algorithms for Energy Arbitrage, Peak Shave, Non-Export, Microgrids & PV smoothing.
At CE+T, I have also designed phase balancing algorithm for data centers.
Operations & Management
7 years of experience troubleshooting complex control issues at sites. While at SunPower, I have also trained Remote Operations Control Center (ROCC) and O&M Engineers here in Austin on a regular basis on plant controls.
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I have also developed smart alarming code to notify operator before a potential big failure and have also developed tools for tracking storage warranty and uptime. I won BrightSpot award for my work. Link here.
SKILLS
PV Plant Grid Controls
Grid Services
(Utility Scale Voltage/PF/Curtailment Control, Non-Export etc)
Operations and Maintenance
Peak Shave, Energy Arbitrage, automated power management
Lithium Battery, Flow Battery and Flywheel Storage Controls
Energy Management System
Power Management System
Microgrid Controls
EXPERIENCE
March 2023-Present
Director, Control Systems
EnerVenue
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Product owner of Energy Block Controller (EBC) for Nickel Hydrogen Battery.
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Selected off the shelf hardware to run the code
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Hands on coding of EBC which performs functions of a master BMS and an EMS.
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Designed a panel with backup power, integrated managed switch and remote access gateway
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Full ownership of Sunspec Modbus certification process
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Leading a team which is developing advanced battery management system for Nickel Hydrogen Battery.​​
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Leading a small team of firmware and modeling engineer to design state of the art BMS from ground up.
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Along with all the safety and monitoring features, the BMS performs predictive analytics for maintenance and battery cell/vessel balancing logic.
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The BMS also supports vessel/battery charging from a complete dead state without requiring and external charger.​​
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Supporting UL 991, UL1998 and UL 9540 certification process as it applies to firmware aspect of the BMS.
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Supporting both product engineering and manufacturing groups by providing products, guidance and consulting advises.
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Co-developed innovative battery activation controller and process to significantly reduce the overall battery cost and streamline manufacturing operations. Patent has been filed Aug 2024.
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Feb 2020-March 2023
Director, Grid Edge Software
CE+T America
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Product owner of Microgrid Controls and Power Management System (PMS)
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Full ownership of the design and development (from ground up) of PMS from coding to panel design, documentation and setting a sales price for the product. Selected an off the shelf controller and developed in house code to run on the controller to execute various energy savings and back up (microgrid) tasks for systems up to 500 kw. Main control features developed includes peak shaving, load shedding, energy arbitrage, solar smoothening, microgrid etc. The company is still selling this product today! See here for a press release.
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Selected right battery vendors to pair with PMS and CE+T power converters. Negotiated pricing agreements as well.
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Developed additional custom code within PMS for mobile power applications for customers in Canada and US.
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Product owner of Battery Combiner and Islanding Switchgear (240 kw). Link here & here
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Full ownership of the design of a battery combiner box capable of accepting 6 battery strings and 6 PCS and single handedly lead the efforts and achieved UL 1741 certification of the product.
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Designed Islanding switchgear capable of performing seamless grid to back up to grid transition using CE+T’s Stabiliti power inverters.
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Achievements
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Developed commercially sellable products targeted for commercial and industrial renewable energy market from scratch.
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Designed highly energy efficient phase balancing control algorithm for Data Centers.
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Streamlined the battery sourcing supply chain by bringing cost and lead times significantly down
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2018-2020
Manager Grid Controls
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2012-2018
Senior EE/SCADA Controls Engineer
SunPower Corp
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Product owner of SunPower Grid Controller (SGC) product for utility scale solar power plants.
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Co- owner of SunPower Grid Controller which is a plant controller designed for utility scale solar + storage power plants. Developed control logic such as real power/generation control/curtailment, non-export/min import, solar smoothening, reactive power control, PF regulation, voltage regulation etc on high voltage transmission systems ranging from 12.5 kV to 235 Kv. Logic was developed to comply with various grid codes around the world including US, South Africa, Chile, Vietnam and Australia.
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Some of the control algorithm I developed were logged as Trade Secret, later to be used for patent filing.
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Co-ownership of hands-on coding of SGC to enable power plant’s compliance with local grid standards while maximizing power generation and elongating equipment life.
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Performed vendor qualification for all the solar and storage systems employed at SunPower’s projects. This includes designing technical requirement documentation and performing in depth factory and site acceptance tests.
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Performed on site commissioning.
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Product owner of Capacitor Bank Controller, Energy Storage Controller and Solar Tracker Controller
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Single handedly designed in house controller for capacitor banks eliminating SunPower’s reliance on GE and NEPSI.
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Designed solar panel tracker controller for once of the world’s largest utility power plant of its time (650 MW) aimed at stowing and unstowing tracker using unique algorithm to maximize generation while emphasizing system safety.
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Designed Energy Storage Controller or an EMS for various applications.
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Developed professional technical documentation and training material published on SunPower’s university.
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Trained Senior SCADA Engineers, Commissioning Managers & Operation Managers on Grid Controllers
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Played an instrumental part of SunPower’s Remote Operations and Control Center (ROCC) by training and guiding ROCC operators to ensure they are trained to make control mode and setpoint changes as requested by transmission operators.
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Created various training material and technical notes to help ROCC engineers get better at managing power plants.
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Perform Controls & Automation Factory Testing on Capacitor Banks, Energy Storage, Battery Banks
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Achievements
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Won “Innovate Relentlessly” PRISM Award for designing energy storage controller
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Submitted three invention disclosure forms for control scheme development for patent approval.
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Key Projects
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“Microgrid Project utilizing 28 MW PV, storage, DERMs controls (SDG&E, NREL, Spirea & NRG)
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Half a dozen military projects – Vandenburg AFB, Redstone Arsenal, Nellis AFB, China lake etc.
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Apple Projects – Bonney Brooke, Claremont, Conover and apple campus.
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2010-2012
Electrical Project Manager
WindTronics
Developed, enhanced and maintained firmare of a Wind Turbine Controller. Lead R&D projects and added newer products to company's offering.
2006-2007
Internship
Printronix
Developed simulated target shooting equipment for military training.
EDUCATION
2007-2009
Master's Degree
Electrical Engineering - Digital Design
University of Houston, Main Campus
Gained deep understanding of FPGA boards and computer architecture.
2002-2006
Bachelor's Degree
Instrumentation And Controls
RGPV UNIVERSITY
Studied various engineering concepts including digital/analog communications, micro processors, instrumentation and control, mechatronics etc