The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $42 million for 15 projects across 11 states to improve the reliability, resiliency and flexibility of the domestic power grid through the development of next-generation semiconductor technologies as part of its Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST) program.
The technologies will more effectively control grid power flow and protect critical infrastructure assets, thereby improving operational efficiency, preventing unforeseen outages, allowing faster recovery, minimizing the impacts of natural disasters and climate-change fueled extreme weather events, and reducing grid operating costs and carbon intensity.
“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 M. 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.”
The teams managed by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will help improve the Biden-Harris Administration’s decarbonization goals with a more secure and reliable grid and allow to utilize more solar, wind and other clean energy.
The projects included are:
- GaNify (State College, PA) with an award amount $3,060,000 will develop an optically isolated, power-integrated building block to enable enhanced control of power electronics converters for a more efficient and reliable grid.
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA) with an award amount $2,700,000 will develop a novel semiconductor switching device from wide-bandgap III-Nitride material to improve grid control, resilience, and reliability.
- Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (East Lansing, MI) with an award amount $2,301,538 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.
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA) with an award amount $3,000,000will develop an optically-controlled semiconductor transistor to enable future grid control systems to accommodate higher voltage and current than state-of-the-art devices.
- NextWatt (Hoffman Estates, IL) with an award amount $2,268,750 will develop an ultrawide-bandgap optical triggered device to address the need for fast protection for solid-state transformers, a promising technology for revolutionizing substations and renewable energy systems.
- Opcondys (Manteca, CA) with an award amount $3,178,977 will develop a light-controlled grid protection device to suppress destructive, sudden transient surges on the grid such as those caused by lightning and electromagnetic pulses.
- RTX Technology Research Center (East Hartford, CT) with an award amount $2,500,000 will 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.
- Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, NM) with an award amount $2,560,000 will develop novel solid-state surge arrester to protect the grid from very fast electromagnetic pulses that threaten the grid’s reliability and performance.
- Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX) with an award amount $3,070,735 will develop a photoconductive semiconductor switching device from advanced ultrawide-bandgap materials to enable improved control of the grid.
- University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR) with an award amount $2,931,177 will develop a heterogeneously integrated high-power semiconductor module for applications in the electric power grid and electrified transportation.
- University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA) with an award amount $3,122,356 will develop ultrawide-bandgap switching devices to achieve higher voltages and speeds than the state-of-the-art, enabling more sophisticated control methods for the grid.
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, IL) with an award amount $2,982,311 will develop optically triggered diamond semiconductor switching devices to enable revolutionary breakthroughs in electricity grid protection.
- University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) with an award amount $2,240,309 will develop an integrated module featuring wide-bandgap power devices with optical control and sensing to improve electric grid control, resilience, and reliability.
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI) with an award amount $2,990,321 will develop an optically triggered semiconductor switching device to reduce power losses and increased performance compared with current technologies.
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN) with an award amount $2,759,821 will develop scalable, light-triggered semiconductor switching modules with integrated sensing for protection of the grid and other power distribution systems.
