Equinox Storage: Residential Energy Storage System Design and Development
Overview
Equinox Storage is SunPower's new product line for residential energy storage. It contains SunVault battery system and Hub+. SunVault battery system integrates inverter and battery pack along with an enclosure with built-in forced convection cooling system. On the other hand Hub+ is the brain of Equinox storage that can take form of a main service panel.
Design and development of Equinox Storage involved defining system architecture, layout, and allowable loads, component loads, design, analysis and testing, manufacturing, system installation and field support.
Project Contributions
Led Mechanical and Structural Design and Analysis for Equinox Storage
Lead engineer for design and development of Hub+. Led cost reduction effort and reduced cost by 40%
Led structural design for SunVault mounting. Developed 25 unique mounting configurations.
Developed DFMEA and performed DFM analysis
Concepts developed and modeled in SolidWorks
Performed advanced structural analysis using Abaqus
Performed hand calculations and structural code calculations (ASCE 7, ACI 318-14, NDS 2018) used for component loads and component design
Component and System Design Validation Testing
Designed text fixtures for component and system design validation tests
Performed mechanical, thermal, and environmental tests for NEMA3R certification of enclosures
Tested the components and assemblies for static loads and cyclic loads
Developed electro-mechanical controllers
Data acquisition performed using LabView and Keysight
Data analysis using Python and/or Mircosoft Excel
Qualification of Production Tooling
Collaborated with domestic and Asian suppliers to develop and qualify production tooling for components
Collaborated on sheet metal forming, extrusion, and injection molding tooling
Defined PPAP requirements: developed control plans, quality control requirements, reviewed PFMEA and suggested process improvements