Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Communication-network-free, Autonomous, Renewable Electric Power Systems (CARE)

拟议的无通信网络、自主、可再生电力系统工程研究中心（CARE）的愿景是在多个技术领域、多样化的劳动力、包容性文化和创新生态系统中开展基础研究，以实现未来电力系统的自主运行，实现可再生能源和分布式能源的高度渗透，而不依赖于通信网络。ERC将专注于使可再生能源和分布式能源像传统的同步电机一样运行，为电力系统带来向后兼容性。这将确保同步电机机制的延续，这种机制为100多年来电力系统的增长和稳定运行做出了贡献。该ERC还将促进工程系统、数学、社会和社会心理科学以及经济学之间的合作研究和教育，这将使社会个人和集体受益。计划拨款将举办三次研讨会，以完善拟议的ERC的目标，同时建立团队并吸引广泛的利益相关者来实现这些目标。提出ERC概念的动机是需要协调具有高可再生能源和分布式能源渗透率的未来电力系统，实现电力系统的自主运行，而不依赖于昂贵和复杂的通信网络，并避免任何人随时随地可能发起的潜在恶意网络攻击。将采用发散的自下而上方法集思广益，然后采用聚合的自上而下方法，在三个为期一天的主题研讨会中为ERC的四个基本组成部分制定战略计划。主题研讨会的成果将直接有助于准备完整的CARE ERC提案。这项计划拨款将帮助团队进一步推进拟议的CARE ERC的种子想法，包括其四个基本组成部分：研究、创新生态系统、工程劳动力发展、多样性和包容性文化，成为一个坚实的ERC提案。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The vision for the proposed Engineering Research Center for Communication-network-free,Autonomous, Renewable Electric Power Systems (CARE) is to develop the foundationalresearch in multiple technical areas, versatile workforce, inclusive culture, and innovative ecosystems necessary to achieve autonomous operation of future electric power systems with high penetration of renewable and distributed energy resources without relying on communication networks. The ERC will focus on making renewable and distributed energy resources behave like conventional synchronous machines, bringing backwards compatibility to power systems. This will ensure continuation of the mechanism of synchronous machines, which has contributed to growth and stable operation of power systems for over 100 years. This ERC will also promote convergent collaborative research and education among engineering systems, mathematical, social, and psychosocial sciences, and economics, which will benefit the societies individually and collectively. The planning grant will conduct three workshops to refine the goals of the proposed ERC, while building the team and engaging a wide range of stakeholders to achieve these goals. The proposed concept of ERC is motivated by the need to harmonize future power systems with high penetration of renewable and distributed energy resources, achieve autonomous operation of power systems without relying on expensive and complex communication networks, and avoid potential malicious cyber-attacks that could be launched by anybody, at any time, from anywhere. A divergentbottom-up approach will be taken to brainstorm ideas and then a convergent top-down approach will betaken to develop the strategic plans for the four foundational components of the ERC in three themed one-day workshops. The outcomes of the themed workshops will directly contribute to the preparation of thefull CARE ERC proposal. This planning grant will help the team to further advance the seed idea of the proposed CARE ERC in terms of its four foundational components: Research, Innovation Ecosystem, Engineering Workforce Development, and Diversity and Culture of Inclusion, into a solid ERC proposal.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.