\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBYLINE: Matt Shipman\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Newswise \u2014 North Carolina State University, in collaboration with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and EPRI, has designed and tested a high-efficiency solid state transformer (SST) capable of handling up to 1 MW of power under real-world conditions. Supported by NYPA and demonstrated at EPRI\u2019s laboratory in Lenox, Mass., the system underscores the technology\u2019s potential to improve energy efficiency, including at installations with significant power demand such as data centers, and to provide potential cost savings in grid operations. The SST can reduce heat loss associated with power production and due to its compact size can be used in areas with space constraints.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThis is the first independently verified, megawatt-class solid state transformer validated on a live utility distribution feeder,\u201d says Srdjan Lukic, principal investigator on the SST project and Lampe Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State. \u201cThis is a significant step in advancing power transformer technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0The SST prototype was designed, constructed, tested and deployed by NC State students and faculty. The prototype used in this NYPA-supported, EPRI-supervised demonstration was connected to a real distribution feeder at EPRI\u2019s power delivery laboratory.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Electricity is transmitted across power lines in the form of a high-voltage alternating current (AC). However, applications that require large loads, such as data centers and electric vehicles, make use of lower-voltage direct current (DC). Conventional power systems use two pieces of technology \u2013 a transformer and a rectifier \u2013 to convert high-voltage AC into low-voltage DC. These two together- the conventional transformer and rectifier – are only about 96% efficient, meaning typically approximately 4% of the power is lost as heat during the conversion process. SSTs function as both the transformer and the AC\/DC rectifier. They are significantly more efficient resulting in only about 2% of the power being wasted.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Given the need to maximize system capacity to support data centers or other large-scale projects, a highly efficient SST can provide cost savings, produce less heat, and lessen the amount of electricity that needs to be generated and transmitted for the application. In addition, SSTs are smaller than the conventional transformer-and-rectifier technologies so can be better used in settings where there are space constraints, such as urban areas<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cSSTs take up less space,\u201d says Lukic. \u201cThat can be important when considering large-scale projects such as data centers that can have a large footprint but also require their own power source in close proximity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0NYPA, the nation\u2019s largest state public power utility, collaborated with NC State to develop the transformer because of the significant potential benefits to its operations. SSTs enhance grid efficiency and support renewable integration, bidirectional power flow, and voltage regulation to handle increasing demand associated with data centers and electric vehicle charging stations.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Ramadan Elmoudi, Senior Research, Technology and Development Engineer at NYPA, who served as a project lead noted, \u201cWe learned through the project\u2019s positive outcomes that solid state transformers can serve as another tool in our clean energy toolbox to enable New York State to operate and maintain a compact, efficient and resilient grid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cIt is encouraging to see innovative technologies progress from university laboratories to full-scale testing,\u201d said Drew McGuire, EPRI senior director of transmission and distribution research. \u201cThis collaboration was a powerful way to accelerate understanding and development of technologies like this SST.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0EPRI\u2019s role in testing the technology is significant because the organization helps utilities test new technologies, like the SST, and then develop implementation strategies to adopt those technologies. Through this collaboration, this advancement can now be shared with the industry to benefit technology developers, utilities, and the public.<\/p>\n
\u00a0This work was initially funded by U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Transportation Technologies Office (TTO) under award DE-EE0008450. NYPA funded and contributed to the SST construction and in field testing aspects of the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BYLINE: Matt Shipman Newswise \u2014 North Carolina State University, in collaboration with the New York Power Authority (NYPA)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4762,280,122021,9,11,10,49,51,50,278,122022,122019,122020,282],"class_list":["post-324009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-energy","tag-engineering","tag-green-tech","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-newswise","tag-north-carolina-state-university","tag-power-utilitieselectrical-engineeringpower-grid","tag-social-media-distr-auto-for-marked-clients","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}