CONFERENCE
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John Palmour
Chief Technology Officer - Power & RF
Cree, Inc.Abstract
SiC offers a large reduction in the on-resistance, enabling high voltage power MOSFETs that outperform any available Si-based power devices in terms of efficiency. Additionally, unipolar switches in SiC with voltage ratings more than 10 times higher than feasible for Si can be made. The SiC MOSFET offers the greatest ease of operation, such as normally-off behavior, low turn-off losses, low conduction losses, and low gate charge. In early 2013 Cree commercially released its 2nd generation, 25 m and 80 m, 1200 V, SiC MOSFETs, which have been used in inverters and high frequency power supplies. Even newer designs are allowing next-generation SiC power MOSFETs that show even greater capability with a further reduction in on-resistance, resulting in a further reduction in switching losses and lower cost at voltage ratings from 900 V up to 15 kV. For even higher voltages, SiC IGBTs have been demonstrated up to 20 kV.
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Samuel F. Baldwin
Chief Science and Technology Officer
Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Energy
United States Department of Energy (DOE)Abstract
The U.S. and the world face tremendous economic, environmental, and security challenges due to our current patterns of energy supply and use. The scale of change needed is enormous; the time available for change is short. What roles can nuclear energy, fossil energy with carbon capture and sequestration, and renewable energy serve to help meet these challenges? In particular, many have expressed concern that resources such as biomass and hydropower are limited, geothermal is either limited (hydrothermal) or hard to tap, and solar and wind are variable; arguing that these factors sharply limit the ability of renewables to supply a significant share of electricity. To explore these issues, a multi-laboratory, industry, and university team evaluated very high levels of renewable generation out to 2050 using detailed geographical and system data to model the continental U.S. grid, and examined time scales down to the hourly level. This presentation will provide an overview of the analysis and explore such questions as:
How much of our power could renewables supply?
What would be the electric system operational challenges associated with very high levels of renewable generation?
What would be the cost and environmental implications of transitioning from a power system dominated by fossil fuels to one that relies substantially on renewables?
What is the potential role for power electronics as the electricity sector enters a period of profound change due to increased use of renewables and a host of other factors?
These challenges are immense, but dedicated engineering development across a broad range of technologies offers the potential to make a very positive impact on our energy future. -
Dushan Boroyevich
CPES Co-Director, American Electric Power Professor
Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Virginia TechAbstract
Anticipated widespread usage of new power electronics technologies in electrical energy generation and consumption is expected to provide major efficiency improvements, while the deployment of smart grid technologies should improve the utilization and availability of electricity. This paper explores possible relationships between these two trends. Starting from an analysis of current and expected developments in the generation, transport, and consumption of electrical energy, this presentation contemplates possible future ac and dc electronic power distribution system architectures, especially in the presence of renewable energy sources. The proposed nanogrid-microgrid - - grid structure achieves hierarchical dynamic decoupling of generation, distribution, and consumption by using bidirectional electronic power converters as energy control centers. Several possible directions for modeling, analysis, and system-level design of such systems, including power flow control, protection, stability, and subsystem interactions, are briefly discussed.
2014 Invited Plenary Sessions
Session Chair: Dushan Boroyevich, Virginia Tech
