University and Industry Seek to Develop 'Smart Grid'

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The cost of electrical energy is a concern for the people who use it and the people who produce it. Researchers are exploring new sources of clean, renewable energy; electrical companies are searching for ways to make their grids safer and smarter; and large corporations are trying to keep costs down while meeting their growing energy needs. At the University of Arkansas, an engineering center of excellence called the Grid-Connected Advanced Power Electronic Systems, or GRAPES, is bringing together members of each of these groups so that they can share ideas, information and resources to improve the way we generate and use energy.

GRAPES began in 2009 as a cooperative effort between the University of Arkansas and the University of South Carolina. The program, which receives funding through a National Science Foundation grant, promotes collaboration between academia and industry.

The two-university center has a board made up of representatives from energy companies and industrial corporations. The industry members pay $40,000 for a place on the board. This money is used for energy research, and the companies help decide which projects the university should pursue and get initial access to their findings.

The GRAPES industry partners include

• Arkansas Energy Cooperatives Company
• Arkansas Power Electronics International
•  American Electric Power
• Baldor Electric
• Central Electric of South Carolina
• Consolidated Edison of New York
• Eaton Corporation
• Electric Power Research Institute
• Lockheed Martin
• North Little Rock Electric
•  Northrop Grumman
• Rohm
• Savannah River National Laboratory
• Southern Company
• Southwest Power Pool
• Arkansas Public Service Commission.

Pre-existing facilities and relationships provide a strong foundation for this program. At the university, energy research has been carried out at the state-of-the-art National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission since 2005. This center features a unique 6-megawatt, 15-kilovolt facility that can be programmed and reconfigured in order to test many different kinds of electronic devices.

The staff of the transmission center, who also make up the staff of the Arkansas part of the GRAPES program, include Alan Mantooth, executive director; Juan Balda, the university site director; Simon Ang and Roy McCann, participating faculty members; and T.A. Walton, managing director. These faculty members have counterparts on the University of South Carolina campus, and the two universities have a 10-year history of collaboration. The complementary resources and expertise of these two schools made their partnership a winning combination for the National Science Foundation grant that made the GRAPES program possible.

Several promising research projects are currently under way through GRAPES. One team of researchers is developing a device, called the smart green power node, that would monitor energy use throughout a residence.

This node could be connected to several power sources — the electrical grid, solar panels, energy storage and wind turbines — and it could balance the availability of each source against the needs of the house in order to save energy and money. On a sunny day, for example, the power node would increase the amount of solar energy used and decrease the electricity from the grid. It could even give excess power back to the grid, or charge an electrical vehicle. The node could also provide DC power, which is used to run computers and smart appliances, eliminating the need for converters. In addition, these power nodes could be coordinated with one another, exchanging information and energy among houses in a neighborhood, and eventually becoming part of a larger smart energy grid.

Another device, called a fault current limiter, would make electricity safer and more reliable for consumers. This device would control power surges by detecting faults on a power line.  These faults, which can be caused by accidents, storms or animals, cause excess power to surge down the line and can be very dangerous. Currently, the only way to protect homes and electrical devices against these power surges is through circuit breakers or surge protectors, which shut off the power completely. The fault current limiter would detect the fault and control the amount of power flowing through the lines, preventing the surge while preserving the flow of electricity.

The GRAPES center is also providing benefits to the students at the University of Arkansas. Industry members have sponsored class projects, taken part in thesis committees, helped graduate students in research and encouraged the university to include undergraduate students in all of the research projects. Possibly the greatest benefits to students, however, have been the internship opportunities made possible by this program. Students who intern with the participating corporations get valuable industry experience.

“If you want to see a young person change before your eyes, send them on a three- to six-month internship in industry,” said Alan Mantooth. While the students benefit from the hands-on experience of an internship, the corporations benefit from the energy, skills and knowledge of the student interns, while getting a valuable pool of future employees.

Of course, the biggest benefit from the GRAPES program will be to consumers, who will end up with new resources for cheap, clean energy.

“At the end of the day, the broadest impact will be energy efficiency,” explained Mantooth, pointing out that the GRAPES program should provide better service, fewer black-outs and lower costs, in addition to finding ways of integrating new, renewable sources of power into a smarter electricity grid.