CAREER: Granular Power Electronics at the Grid Edge

电力电子是未来能源系统的关键组成部分。电力电子在可再生能源集成、计算和电信、电网规模储能和交通电气化方面发挥着关键作用，所有这些都处于未来智能电网的边缘。这些新兴的能源系统通常是模块化和颗粒化的。该研究项目的目标是一种通用的设计方法，该方法将使一种新的电力电子产品系列能够实现高性能，并在电网边缘执行各种应用的新功能。“颗粒电力电子”代表了一种系统的设计方法，将电力电子的智能和能力推向了一个以前从未展示过的颗粒水平。PI将利用宽带隙器件，电路架构和控制方法的最新进展来解决控制复杂功率流，用颗粒结构建模磁性以及解决具有许多智能逆变器的纳米电网中逆变器到逆变器振荡问题的挑战。该项目的结果将纳入PI目前领导的“校园即实验室”计划的一部分，为本科生创造研究机会。针对K-12学生的推广计划，让他们参与实验演示的开发，将使他们了解电力电子在提高我们日常生活的质量和可持续性方面的作用，并吸引他们从事STEM职业。PI将对颗粒和模块化电力电子的基本原理进行系统研究。PI将（1）开发设计工具包（模块、示意图和布局图案），其包括开关电感器单元、开关电容器单元、桥结构和磁耦合器，其可以用作粒度功率转换架构的基础，（2）建立系统方法以评估拓扑、选择组件、控制功率流、对磁性元件建模、估计电网阻抗，该项目的主要目的是：（1）对具有复杂功率流的颗粒功率电子器件和系统进行稳定性分析;（2）为颗粒功率转换架构的设计和控制开发开放源代码计算机辅助设计工具;（3）建立小规模实验系统，以验证开发的方法，并使教育受益。PI将以电网边缘的三个新兴和重要的能源系统为例-智能逆变器（分布式能源发电），大规模能源系统（数据中心电力输送）和用于多学科能源系统研究的纳米电网测试平台。高性能的电网接口电力电子拓扑结构将被研究，基于模型的多代理控制策略将被开发，以使未来的智能电网与许多颗粒电力电子在边缘。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Power electronics are the key building blocks of future energy systems. Power electronics play critical roles in renewable energy integration, computing and telecommunication, grid-scale energy storage, and transportation electrification, all at the edge of the future smart grid. These emerging energy systems are usually modular and granular. This research project targets a generalized design method that will enable a new family of power electronics that can achieve high performance and perform new functions at the grid edge for a variety of applications. ``Granular power electronics'' represents a systematic design approach that pushes the intelligence and capability of power electronics to a granular level that has not been demonstrated before. The PI will leverage the recent advances in wide-band-gap devices, circuit architectures, and control methodologies to address the challenges of controlling sophisticated power flow, modeling magnetics with granular structures, and addressing the inverter-to-inverter oscillation problem in nano-grids with many smart inverters. The results of this project will be incorporated into the efforts that the PI is currently leading as a part of the "Campus-as-a-Lab" program to create research opportunities for undergraduate students. The outreach program for K-12 students, involving them in the development of experimental demos, will expose them to the role of power electronics in improving the quality and sustainability of our daily lives and attract them to pursue STEM careers.The PI will perform a systematic investigation on the fundamental principles of granular and modular power electronics. The PI will (1) develop design toolkits (modules, schematics, and layout patterns) comprising switched-inductor cells, switched-capacitor cells, bridge structures, and magnetic-couplers which may serve as the basis of granular power conversion architectures, (2) establish systematic methods to evaluate the topology, select the components, control the power flow, model the magnetics, estimate the grid impedance, and perform stability analysis of granular power electronics and systems with sophisticated power flow; (3) develop open-source computer-aided-design tools for the design and control of granular power conversion architectures; and (4) build small-scale experimental systems to verify the developed methods and benefit education. The PI will use three emerging and important energy systems at the grid edge as examples - smart inverters (distributed energy generation), large scale energy systems (data center power delivery), and a nano-grid test platform for multidisciplinary energy systems research. High performance grid-interface power electronics topologies will be studied, and model-based multi-agent control strategies will be developed to enable a future smart grid with many granular power electronics at the edge.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.