PACK POINTS
A Top 10 for FREEDM
Dr. Alex Huang (right), is director of the FREEDM Systems Center.
The smart solid-state transformers being developed by the NSF FREEDM Systems Center at NC State were named to MIT Technology Review’s 2011 list of the world’s 10 most important emerging technologies.
Smart transformers, which are more efficient and adaptive than transformers commonly used on the power grid today, are cited as devices that will soon have a profound impact on how we live and work.
“Smart grid technology could make electrical power more reliable and make it easier to integrate renewables such as solar and wind. The smart transformer being developed at the NSF FREEDM Systems Center at NC State represents 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,” said Stephen Cass, special projects editor for the Technology Review, the world’s oldest technology magazine.
Today’s power grid only lets power flow in one direction — from the power company to the consumer — and the transformers on today’s grid simply transfer electrical energy from one circuit to another and transform it to a more usable voltage.
But the smart transformers under development at FREEDM (above) are more flexible and have components that are built to handle high power levels and quickly change power voltage and frequency as they communicate with the rest of the grid. The devices could allow electric vehicles to be charged more quickly and utilities to incorporate large amounts of solar and wind power into the grid without blackouts or power surges.
Formed in 2008 by a five-year, $18.5 million Engineering Research Center grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center is headquartered at NC State and includes faculty and facilities at seven universities in the US and Europe. Its goal is to revolutionize the nation’s power grid and speed renewable energy technologies into every home and business. 