$42m for US optical, diamond power grid research
The US Department of Energy is funding 15 projects with $42m to improve the efficiency and resilience of the electricity grid.
The ULTRAFAST (Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power Semiconductor Technologies) programme is funding a range of research projects into new wideband devices, including diamond, with optical isolation to provide more control of the power grid, as well as sensors and controllers for solid state transformers.
The aim is to develop systems that can coordinate the operation of electricity supply and demand will improve operational efficiency, prevent unforeseen outages, allow faster recovery, minimize the impacts of natural disasters and extreme weather events, and reduce grid operating costs and carbon intensity.
- Diamond diode tops 4500V, looks to 9kV
- €1.1bn for UK electricity grid
- 80m kilometres of power grid needs replacing says report
“Modernizing our nation’s aging power grid is critical to strengthening our national and energy security, and absolutely essential to reaching President Biden’s ambitious goal of a net-zero economy by 2050,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “This new investment will support project teams across the country as they develop the innovative technologies we need to strengthen our grid security and bring reliable clean electricity to more families and businesses—all while combatting the climate crisis.”
GaNify in Pennsylvania has $3m to develop an optically isolated, power-integrated building block that would enable enhanced control of power electronics converters, while the Georgia Institute of Technology is exploring a novel semiconductor switching device from wide-bandgap III-Nitride material to improve grid control, resilience, and reliability with $2.7m.
Great Lakes Crystal Technologies will develop a diamond semiconductor transistor to support the control infrastructure needed for an energy grid with more distributed generation sources and more variable loads with $2m while Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California will develop an optically-controlled semiconductor transistor to enable future grid control systems to accommodate higher voltages and currents with $3m.
NextWatt in Illinois is developing an ultrawide-bandgap optical triggered device that addresses the need for fast protection for solid-state transformers with $2.2m while Opcondys in California will develop a light-controlled grid protection device to suppress destructive, sudden transient surges such as those caused by lightning and electromagnetic pulses.
The RTX Technology Research Centre in Connecticut will use $2.5m to develop semiconductor switching modules that are triggered by wireless radio frequency signals, reducing losses and improving control of power electronics converters for the grid and other applications while Sandia National Laboratories will develop novel solid-state surge arrester that would protect the grid from very fast electromagnetic pulses in a $2.5m project.
Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, will develop a photoconductive semiconductor switching device from advanced ultrawide-bandgap materials that would enable improved control of the grid while the University of Arkansas is to develop a heterogeneously integrated high-power semiconductor module for grid and electrified transportation with $3m of funding.
Meanwhile the University of California, Santa Barbara has $3m to develop ultrawide-bandgap switching devices that would achieve higher voltages and speeds than the state-of-the-art, enabling more sophisticated control methods for the grid and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will develop optically triggered diamond semiconductor switching devices for grid protection and the University of Pennsylvania will develop an integrated module featuring wide-bandgap power devices with optical control and sensing.
Finally the University of Wisconsin-Madison has $3m to develop an optically triggered semiconductor switching device to reduce power losses and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has $2.7m to develop scalable, light-triggered semiconductor switching modules with integrated sensing.
More information and complete project descriptions are on the ARPA-E website.
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
