Slick Sheet: Project
Marquette University will leverage the technology gap presented by the lack of DC breaker technology. The project objective is to create an industry standard DC breaker that is compact, efficient, ultra-fast, lightweight, resilient, and scalable. The proposed solution will use a novel current source to force a zero current in the main current conduction path, providing a soft transition when turning on the DC breaker. A state-of-the-art actuator that can produce significantly more force than current solutions will also be used.
Slick Sheet: Project
Georgia Tech Research Corporation is developing a cost-effective, utility-scale power router that uses an enhanced transformer to more efficiently direct power on the grid. Existing power routing technologies are too expensive for widespread use, but the ability to route grid power to match real-time demand and power outages would significantly reduce energy costs for utilities, municipalities, and consumers. Georgia Tech is adding a power converter to an existing grid transformer to better control power flows at about 1/10th the cost of existing power routing solutions.
Slick Sheet: Project
GeneSiC Semiconductor is developing an advanced silicon-carbide (SiC)-based semiconductor called an anode-switched thyristor. This low-cost, compact SiC semiconductor conducts higher levels of electrical energy with better precision than traditional silicon semiconductors. This efficiency will enable a dramatic reduction in the size, weight, and volume of the power converters and the electronic devices they are used in. GeneSiC is developing its SiC-based semiconductor for utility-scale power converters.
Slick Sheet: Project
Cree is developing silicon carbide (SiC) power transistors that are 50% more energy efficient than traditional transistors. Transistors act like a switch, controlling the electrical energy that flows through an electrical circuit. Most power transistors today use silicon semiconductors to conduct electricity. However, transistors with SiC semiconductors operate at much higher temperatures, as well as higher voltage and power levels than their silicon counterparts. SiC-based transistors are also smaller and require less cooling than those made with traditional silicon power technology.
Press Releases
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced $25 million in funding for 10 projects as part of the Performance-based Energy Resource Feedback, Optimization, and Risk Management (PERFORM) program. These projects will work to develop innovative management systems that represent the relative delivery risk of each asset, like wind farms or power plants, and balance the collective risk of all assets across the grid.
Press Releases
Today, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced that the first round of winners has been named in the Department of Energy’s Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. The GO Competition, managed by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA‑E) is a series of challenges to develop software management solutions for challenging power grid problems. The competition’s intent is to create a more reliable, resilient and secure American electricity grid. The winners will share a total of $3.4 million, which is to be used to further develop their respective approaches and pursue industry adoption of their technologies.
Workshop
The PERFORM program aims to shift the operations and planning to a risk-driven paradigm. Future operations and investment strategies will more closely resemble portfolio management practices; resource offers will be differentiated by their overall historical performance and prediction of their real-time performance. This shift enables the ability to balance the tradeoff between minimizing costs versus delivery risk while providing the foundation for an incentive compatible environment that efficiently mitigates risk. This program will provide grid operators a transparent quantification of their system position and overall risk exposure, which does not exist today.
Press Releases
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) at the U.S. Department of Energy today announced $15 million in funding for four new projects as part of its seventh OPEN+ cohort, Data-Driven Grid.
Blog Posts
Energy Secretary Rick Perry just took to the airwaves to announce the launch of ARPA-E’s newest challenge, the Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. America’s electric grid is a vast network, consisting of several regions that cover all 50 states and Canada. Serving this huge geography requires thousands of miles of electric lines, connecting customers with generation sources including wind, solar, coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric power.
Press Releases
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry today announced the launch of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first ever Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. The GO Competition, created by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), is a series of challenges to develop software management solutions for a reliable, resilient and secure American electricity grid.