[June 15, 2011]

NC State's Smart Grid Research Center Toured by President's Jobs Council

Business leaders on the White House Council on Jobs and Competitiveness toured the FREEDM Systems Center, an NSF-funded research center on NC State University's Centennial Campus which focuses on smart grid technology and distributed energy.

FREEDM Center Director Alex Huang briefs U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Senator Kay Hagan, and Jobs Council executives on smart grid technology research. (Photo: Business Wire)

The tour was in conjunction with a "listening session" in which Council members heard from national and local energy and smart grid executives on the obstacles and opportunities associated with growing jobs in their industry. NC State's Chancellor Randy Woodson hosted the event. The roundtable discussion was one of five simultaneous sessions that coincided with President Obama's visit to North Carolina.

"The visit by the Council members was fantastic," said Rogelio Sullivan, managing director of the FREEDM Center and Advanced Transportation Energy Center. "It gave us the opportunity to not only talk about the potential impact the Center's research and development can have in the future on energy and the environment, but it also gave us the chance to describe how the FREEDM education activities can help to develop a well-prepared workforce for the Smart Grid."

FREEDM, which stands for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management, was formed in 2008 by a five-year, $18.5 million Engineering Research Center grant from the ational Science Foundation.

The center benefits from its location in the Triangle, one of the nation's top smart grid hubs. A recent Duke University study counted nearly 60 smart grid companies in the region. They include the power systems giant ABB, which is developing a Smart Grid Center of Excellence just down the road from FREEDM on NC State's Centennial Campus.

One area the FREEDM Center is focusing on is in the next generation of distribution transformers. In April, a new type of transformer under development at the FREEDM Systems Center was named to MIT (News - Alert) Technology Review's 2011 list of the world's 10 most important emerging technologies.

The devices, called smart solid-state transformers, represent a big step forward toward developing the smart energy grid of the future. Today's grid, which has changed little since the days of Thomas Edison, only lets power flow in one direction - from the power company to the consumer. But as the cost of renewable energy technologies comes down and plug-in electric vehicles become more widespread, the grid will need an upgrade to handle the flood of devices that will not only consume energy, but will be able to push it back onto the grid.

The FREEDM Center's smart transformers are built to manage power more effectively than today's transformers. They will precisely control voltage, frequency and other electrical properties as they communicate with the rest of the grid. The devices will also help utilities incorporate lots of renewable energy into the grid with fewer blackouts or power surges.

Stephen Cass, special projects editor for the Technology Review, called the devices "a major advance for smart grids, allowing the flow of electricity to be controlled and rerouted in a manner similar to how data is routed around the Internet."

Sullivan says the Center is still looking at another 3-5 years of development before the solid state transformer has the potential to be ready for commercial development.

"Our goal is to create a more efficient, smaller, and lighter transformer down the road," says Sullivan. "It will need to be fully developed functionally, then tested for reliability, durability and other qualities, before it can be made commercially attractive."

Other areas that interest FREEDM Center researchers include work on a DC-based distribution system, which integrates alternative technologies, like solar and electric vehicles, with the current grid system more easily. Researchers are also exploring new opportunities in energy storage, such as integrating vehicle battery technologies into the grid.

About Centennial Campus and NC State University

Centennial Campus (http://www.centennial.ncsu.edu) is an internationally recognized 1,314-acre research park and technology campus owned and operated by North Carolina University.

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