M. K. Ikram

Research

Millions of solar panels, home batteries and electric cars are joining the grid. They can make it stronger or break it. My research is about making sure it's the first one.

Mohammad with a team of students and staff beside a model of a microgrid-powered building, under a banner reading Empowering Communities through Microgrids
At a Swinburne showcase on community microgrids. Local energy sharing is at the heart of my PhD.

Electric cars as grid helpers

PhD research, 2024 – now

When everyone gets home at 6 pm and plugs in their car, demand on the grid jumps at the worst possible time. I build planning methods that spread charging across the night, so cars ease pressure on the network instead of adding to the evening peak.

I've also looked at where charging stations should go in a small local grid, and how smart charging keeps voltage in safe limits for nearby homes.

Why it matters: smarter charging means fewer expensive network upgrades and lower bills for everyone, not just car owners.

Related papers

Neighbours sharing energy

PhD research, 2024 – now

Today, a house with solar panels sells spare power back to the grid for very little. Peer-to-peer energy sharing lets that house sell directly to a neighbour instead. Add electric cars, which are basically batteries on wheels, and you get a local energy market on your street.

I study how to run these local markets without making the grid unstable. I test my ideas on the same simulation software (PSS®E) that network operators use for real planning.

Why it matters: households keep more value from their own solar, and the grid gets local backup it didn't have to pay for.

Related papers

Restarting the grid after a blackout

CSIRO project, 2025 – 2026

After a major blackout, the grid has to be switched back on piece by piece. That job has always been done by big coal, gas and hydro generators. As those close, someone else has to do it.

On a CSIRO research project, I tested whether the electronics inside solar farms and big batteries can take over. I looked at how two types of this equipment work together, and where their limits are.

Why it matters: Australia can't close its old power stations safely until it knows clean energy can restart the system on its own.

Related papers

Earlier work: measuring power

Aligarh Muslim University, 2019 – 2023

You can't control what you can't measure. I designed, built and tested low-cost circuits that measure power flow accurately, including the "reactive" power that keeps voltage stable. This hands-on hardware work produced a published patent and several journal papers.

Related work

Tools I use

Grid simulation in PSS®E, PSS® SINCAL and MATLAB/Simulink. Optimisation and automation in Python and IBM CPLEX. Hardware design and lab testing for power electronics and sensors.