Blog Posts
Recently, we had an opportunity to sit down with Dr. Jack Lewnard, program director for ARPA‑E REcyle Underutilized Solids to Energy (REUSE) program to discuss the transformation from plastic and paper trash to energy treasure.
Blog Posts
As Dr. Atkinson’s term as an ARPA-E Program Director comes to a close, we sat down with him to reflect on his ARPA-E experience, the NEXTCAR program and the future of powertrain technologies, and what’s next for him.
Blog Posts
Under ARPA-E’s statutory charter, one of our key goals is to develop technology that contributes to the reduction of energy-related emissions. Our recently announced FLExible Carbon Capture and Storage (FLECCS) program - led by Program Director Dr. Scott Litzelman - focuses on this goal, by developing CCS technologies that enable power generators to be flexible and responsive to grid conditions in a high variable renewable energy (VRE) penetration environment. We recently sat down with Dr. Litzelman to get some additional insight into the FLECCS program, and the needs it aims to address.
Blog Posts
One of the most popular parts of the yearly Summit is ARPA-E’s Technology Showcase, where current and previous ARPA-E awardees, as well as a select group others, display their projects for attendees to see, interact with, and experience themselves. No visit to the ARPA-E Summit is complete without a walk of the showcase floor, and since we’re less than one month out, we’ve put together a quick “cheat-sheet” on the this year’s Tech Showcase Demonstrations.
Blog Posts
We recently sat down with Dr. Babson to discuss how he became interested in energy, his journey serving in various roles across the federal government, and the future of bioenergy and agricultural systems.
Blog Posts
In July, ARPA-E will head west and bring the 10th ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit to Colorado. This annual conference and technology showcase convenes some of America’s best minds in business, academia, and government to focus on new and innovative ways to conquer America’s energy challenges.
Blog Posts
We sat down with ARPA-E Program Director, Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh, as she reflected on her experience attending the very first ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit Student Program back in 2010.
Slick Sheet: Project
RTX Technologies Research Center (RTRC) is developing semiconductor switching modules that are triggered using rectified 5G radio frequency rather than low frequency gate drive signals, thereby reducing losses and improving control of power electronics converters for aerospace systems as well as for the grid. These modules will permit the power devices they drive to perform at much higher frequencies than conventional devices, resulting in minimal size, weight, power, and cost while increasing the reliability and efficiency of future power systems.
Slick Sheet: Project
Opcondys is developing a light-controlled grid protection device to suppress destructive sudden and short-lived surges in energy on the grid caused by lightning and electromagnetic pulses. The proposed protection module improves upon current slower surge protection devices by using high-voltage photoconductive power electronics with nanosecond response times. If successful, any sudden and short-lived disruption through utility lines will auto-trigger the module, halting a disruption from traveling any further and protecting grid-connected equipment.
Slick Sheet: Project
The University of Pennsylvania is developing an integrated module featuring wide-bandgap power devices to improve electric grid control, resilience, and reliability. The proposed co-packaged module integrates high-speed gate driving, optical power delivery, signal isolation, remote sensing, and protection. The module will non-invasively monitor the voltage and current of wide-bandgap devices and would have higher noise immunity than state-of-the-art.