The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a $42 million initiative aimed at improving the nation's power grid across 11 states, involving 15 projects under the Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST) program. The purpose of these initiatives is to advance semiconductor technologies and enhance the resiliency of the national power grid.
Selected programs include GaNify based in State College, PA, which will concentrate on developing an optically isolated power-integrated building block for enhanced control of power electronics converters. Similarly, the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA has been selected to create a novel semiconductor switching device from wide-bandgap III-Nitride material with an aim to improve grid control, resilience, and reliability. Additional projects encompass efforts to produce diamond semiconductor transistors, light-controlled grid protection devices, and ultra-wide-bandgap optical-triggered devices. According to a press release by DOE, all these initiatives are supervised by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).
"Modernizing our nation’s aging power grid is critical to strengthening our national and energy security," stated U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm according to another press release by DOE. She further added that it was "absolutely essential to reaching President Biden’s ambitious goal of a net-zero economy by 2050." Granholm expressed that this new investment would bolster project teams nationwide as they developed innovative technologies essential for enhancing grid security while also delivering reliable clean electricity more widely.
The ULTRAFAST program endeavors to pioneer and display cutting-edge ultra-fast power semiconductor technologies for advanced power electronics converters at a system level. Its primary goal includes substantial enhancements in the reliability, resiliency, and control of the power grid. The focus remains on developing faster-switching, higher-rated device and power module technologies as per information found on the ULTRAFAST program webpage provided by ARPA-E of DOE. These anticipated innovations are expected to revolutionize power management, protection, and control not only for the existing power grid but also for forthcoming green autonomous power distribution systems.
