The vision for the proposed Engineering Research Center for Communication-network-free, Autonomous, Renewable Electric Power Systems (CARE) is to develop the foundational research 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 divergent bottom-up approach will be taken to brainstorm ideas and then a convergent top-down approach will be taken 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 the full 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.
