Electricity Generation and Delivery

The Boston University (BU) team is developing control technology to help grid operators more actively manage power flows and integrate renewables by optimally turning entire power lines on and off in coordination with traditional control of generation and load resources. The control technology being developed would provide grid operators with tools to help manage transmission congestion by identifying the facilities whose on/off status must change to lower generation costs, increase utilization of renewable resources and improve system reliability.

Michigan State University (MSU) is developing a power flow controller to improve the routing of electricity from renewable sources through existing power lines. The fast, innovative, and lightweight circuitry that MSU is incorporating into its controller will eliminate the need for a separate heavy and expensive transformer, as well as the construction of new transmission lines.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is developing an electromagnet-based, amplifier-like device that will allow for complete control over the flow of power within the electric grid. To date, complete control of power flow within the grid has been prohibitively expensive. ORNL's controller could provide a reliable, cost-effective solution to this problem. The team is combining two types of pre-existing technologies to assist in flow control, culminating in a prototype iron-based magnetic amplifier.

Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) is using topology control as a mechanism to improve system operations and manage disruptions within the electric grid. The grid is subject to interruption from cascading faults caused by extreme operating conditions, malicious external attacks, and intermittent electricity generation from renewable energy sources.

University of Arizona is developing a hybrid solar converter that splits the light spectrum, sending a band of the solar spectrum to solar cells to generate electricity and the rest to a thermal fluid to be stored as heat. The team's converter builds off the CSP trough concentrator design, integrating a partially transmitting mirror near the focus to reflect visible wavelengths of light onto high-efficiency solar cells while passing ultraviolet and most infrared light to heat a thermal fluid.

Tulane University and its partners are developing a hybrid solar energy system capable of capturing, storing, and dispatching solar energy. The system will collect sunlight using a dual-axis tracker with concentrator dish that focuses sunlight onto a hybrid solar energy receiver. Ultraviolet and visible light is collected in very high efficiency solar cells with approximately half of this part of the spectrum converted to electricity.

Yale University is developing a dual-junction solar cell that can operate efficiently at temperatures above 400 °C, unlike today’s solar cells, which lose efficiency rapidly above 100°C and are likely to fail at high temperatures over time. Yale’s specialized dual-junction design will allow the cell to extract significantly more energy from the sun at high temperature than today’s cells, enabling the next generation of hybrid solar converters to deliver much higher quantities of electricity and highly useful dispatchable heat.

Arizona State University (ASU) is developing a hybrid solar energy system that modifies a CSP trough design, replacing the curved mirror with solar cells that collect both direct and diffuse rays of a portion of sunlight while reflecting the rest of the direct sunlight to a thermal absorber to generate heat. Electricity from the solar cells can be used immediately while the heat can be stored for later use. Today’s CSP systems offer low overall efficiency because they collect only direct sunlight, or the light that comes in a straight beam from the sun.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing a high-efficiency solar cell grown on a low-cost silicon wafer, which incorporates a micro-scale heat management system. The team will employ a novel fabrication process to ensure compatibility between the indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) solar cell and an inexpensive silicon wafer template, which will reduce cell costs. MIT will also develop a color-selective filter, designed to split incoming concentrated sunlight into two components.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing a hybrid solar converter that integrates a thermal absorber and solar cells into a layered stack, allowing some portions of sunlight to be converted directly to electricity and the rest to be stored as heat for conversion when needed most. MIT’s design focuses concentrated sunlight onto metal fins coated with layers that reflect a portion of the sunlight while absorbing the rest. The absorbed light is converted to heat and stored in a thermal fluid for conversion to mechanical energy by a heat engine.