Dr Mahmoud Dhimish received an M.Sc. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering (Distinction) from the University of Huddersfield in 2016 and a Ph.D. in Renewable Energy from the same University in 2018. From 2018 to August 2021, he worked as Senior Lecturer in Electronics and Control Engineering and was the Head of Photovoltaic Laboratory at the University of Huddersfield. From September 2021, he joined the Department of Electronic Engineering at York University as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Electrical Engineering, working on developing cutting-edge research in the area of photovoltaics/renewables and power electronics. In November 2020, Dr Mahmoud Dhimish was named one of the top 15 young scientists in Great Britain, according to a leading index of scientific academics published by Stanford University. He is a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:

• September 2021 - present: Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Electrical Engineering, Department of Electronic Engineering, University of York, UK.

• May 2018 – August 2021: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Electronics and Control Engineering, School of Computing and Engineering, University of Huddersfield, UK.

• April 2016 – April 2018: Lecturer in Computing and Engineering, Study Group, International Study Centre (ISC), University of Huddersfield, UK.

RESEARCH & INDUSTRIAL APPOINTMENTS:

• June 2019 - September 2019: Research Assistant, AL SUWAIDI FTS CONSTRUCTION, Dubai, UAE. Project Title: Degradation Estimation Tool for Large-Scale Photovoltaic Systems.

• September 2018 – March 2019: Research Assistant, A-SAFE, Halifax, UK. Project Title: Indoor Real-Time Positioning of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) System.

• December 2017 - April 2018: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Computing and Engineering, University of Huddersfield, UK. Project Title: Design and Development of AI-Based Electronics for Medical Devices

• January 2016 - December 2016: Research Assistant, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Leeds, UK. Project Title: Photovoltaic Multiple Configuration Assessment, Modelling, and Design.

Areas of Research and Expertise:

1) Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy systems:

• Simulation: MATLAB, LabVIEW, SOLARGIS, PVsyst.
• Installations: Rooftop, Façade.
• Reliability analysis: Fault detection, Hot-spots (thermal imaging), microcracks (EL, PL, and electron microscopy).
• Monitoring: Internet of Things (IoT), Big data analysis, High-performance computing (HPC), Statistics.

 2) Power Electronics:

• DC-DC converters design and integrate with renewables (PV and Wind).
• Microinverters design and implementation.
• Reliability analysis of converters/inverters and power electronics devices. Including lifetime prediction and degradation analysis.

 3) Artificial Intelligence (AI):

• I have actively researched deploying state-of-the-art AI models (i.e., ANN, Fuzzy logic system, and deep learning) for PV fault detection and classification.
• Forecasting PV output power using AI techniques.

Our Latest (updated 26 June 2022) work:

Potential-induced degradation (PID) of photovoltaic (PV) modules is one of the most severe types of degradation in modern modules, where power losses depend on the strength of the electric field, the temperature and relative humidity, and the PV module materials. In our recent work [1], we have investigated the power losses, development of hotspots, mm-level defects, and the performance ratio (PR) of 28 PID-affected PV modules. We have also studied, as presented in [2], the correlation of four crack modes and their effects on the temperature of the solar cells. Here we have seen that not all crack types can lead to what is known as "hotspots". Note: both papers are fully open access; enjoy the read!

[1] Dhimish, M. and Tyrrell, A.M., 2022. Power loss and hotspot analysis for photovoltaic modules affected by potential induced degradation. npj Materials Degradation, 6(1), pp.1-8.

[2] Dhimish, M. and Lazaridis, P.I., 2021. An empirical investigation on the correlation between solar cell cracks and hotspots. Scientific Reports, 11(1), pp.1-11.