Message from Dr. Mazzola
I sincerely hope your new year is starting prosperous and healthy. Our business at EPIC continues to grow due to the amazing work of our EPIC team. As recounted in news from our Special Projects group led by James Gafford, EPIC is exceeding my expectations for "research at the speed of the client." A shout out to EPIC research engineers Andrew LeClair and Dr. Daniel Evans for making the trip to Fort Belvoir in the cold and rain to complete the delivery of the microgrid system in partnership with Hyperion Technology Group that is described below. They earned the EPIC "inside the fence of the client" award this quarter! And our student recruitment and development activities continue to bear fruit. From the outstanding service of our new student energy club "VOLT" to the hard work by Christina Kopitopoulou and Robin Moose to put in place the first-ever Energy Concentration Student Stipend, our founding mission to promote workforce development for the energy industry remains a top priority for EPIC in partnership with the much-appreciated companies in the EPIC Affiliates program.
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Selma Matthews CERDEC branch chief and Technology Transfer officer, program manager, and sponsor of the project, and Daniel Masters CERDEC engineer |
Special Projects update
Hyperion Technologies
EPIC's Special Projects team has recently concluded the development and initial evaluation of a high power density inverter intended for microgrid applications with Hyperion Technologies Group, Inc. and Kinematix, LLC, and developed by Hyperion Technologies, Mississippi State University, and EPIC under contract by the
U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC). This 60 kW bi-drectional inverter has a mass of less than 25 kg and has been demonstrated to support a variety of use cases which increase microgrid reliability and resiliency. The inverter was demonstrated to US Army CERDEC program management as both a grid-forming and grid-following system providing high power quality for applications such as non-linear loads, power factor correction, large transient loads, and large format battery charging.
QM Power
EPIC is developing a three phase motor drive prototype based upon QM Power's proprietary Q-Sync technology. Q-Sync has the potential to reduce motor drive cost and complexity while increasing operating efficiency for many industrial applications. Successfully completing an accelerated design process the Special Projects team is finalizing the fabrication and software development of a 5 hp capable prototype. The team expects to deliver and demonstrate a functional 50 hp follow-on prototype this spring.
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US DOE Awards EPIC
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DoE Project Team Back L to R: Ph.D. student Tarik Chowdhury Duke Energy Lead Engineer Dr. Sherif Abdelrazek Project PI Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan, Ph.D. student Arun Suresh, Post Doc Fellow Krishna Murari, and Ph.D. student Aravind Ingalalli. Front: EPIC Business Officer Robin Moose, Senior Research Administrator Wendy Meier, and EPIC Grants and Contracts Manager Lori Brown. Not pictured is Ph.D. student Shyamal Patel.
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The U.S. Department of Energy - Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), has awarded $4.6 million to UNC Charlotte faculty member Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan for the project "Optimal Reconfiguration and Resilient Control Framework for Real-Time Photovoltaic Dispatch to Manage Critical Infrastructure." The purpose of the project is to advance solar energy's role in strengthening the resilience of the U.S. electricity grid. The project will develop a grid management tool that detects cyber and physical threats, and forms dynamic clusters to optimally manage photovoltaics and energy storage.
The project team includes other universities, national labs, and industry partners including Duke Energy. The project scope is three years, with the total grant amount including a DoE share of $3,699,000 and a cost share of $900,000.
"This is one more example of EPIC's strategic partnerships with Duke Energy, the State of North Carolina, and the Federal Government to bring a strong focus of resiliency to grid modernization," said EPIC Director Dr. Mike Mazzola. "Dr. Kamalasadan is an EPIC faculty member who performs research in our Duke Energy Smart Grid Laboratory, a core EPIC facility. I am very encouraged that the Department of Energy has selected his proposal for award."
Duke Energy will be assisting UNC Charlotte on the project, allowing access to real-time data from the grid. The project will benefit Duke by helping grid operators better incorporate renewable energy into grid needs, maintain reliability and respond to events like cyber attacks.
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TE-REx 2020
In January 2020, five UNC Charlotte students were selected to participate in a res
earch exchange program with Germany's Karlshruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Beginning in May 2020, they will embark for a 12-week stay. The students, research projects and advising
faculty are:
Shashank Shinde
Energy-Based Modeling and Plug-and-Play Control of Microgrids, Prof. Sören Hohmann
Oluwatimilehin Adeosun
Distributed Control of a Real Medium-Sized Power System, Prof. Sören Hohmann
Daniel Saraphis
Optimization- and Consensus-Based Control of AC Microgrids, Prof. Sören Hohmann
Mahfuja A Khuda
Heading - Optimal Heat Flux Distribution on the Surface of Molten Salt Receivers in Solar Tower Power Plants, Dr. Daniela Piccioni Koch
Peyman Razi
Scenario Tree Approximation for Renewable Power Sources using Linear Autoregressive Modelling, Prof. Dr. Steffen Rebennack
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EPIC presents the Energy Seminar Series with speakers from around the region. These experts share valuable information and their insight into trends and news that are related to energy. Seminars are free and are open to all. Click
here
for more details.
Feb. 18
Steve Kalland, NC Clean Energy Technology Center
Feb. 25
Sasha Weintraub, Duke Energy
Mar. 11
Rocky Sease, SOS International
Mar. 31
Data Analytics
Tao Hong, UNC Charlotte
Tim Fairchild, SAS
Apr. 15
Panel Discussion on Grid Resilency
Josh Dillar, Pike Engineering
Steve Whisenant, Duke Energy
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Dr. Robert Cox |
EPIC sends subject matter expert to NARUC/NASEO workshop
EPIC was invited to send a subject matter expert to the second workshop meeting of the Task Force on Comprehensive Electricity Planning sponsored by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and the National Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO). This event was held in Columbus, Ohio from October 2nd
-4th
.
Dr. Robert Cox, EPIC associate director, participated as a resiliency expert for a working group focused on helping a number of state regulators and state energy offices develop solutions for their particular states.
The task force will help develop new approaches to better align distribution system planning and resource planning processes.
With support from the U.S. Department of Energy, the task force is a two-year collaborative to provide a forum for participants from 16 states to examine key planning process intersections to test concepts, learn from national-caliber experts, and outline policy and technical needs. Direct participants will develop tools and roadmaps available to all NARUC and NASEO members to adapt and refine for use in their states.
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EPIC Affiliates news
Energy Concentration Stipend
 The EPIC Affiliates Program, together with EPIC Director Mike Mazzola, started a new awards program for undergraduate engineering students enrolled in the energy concentration. With matching funds from the EPIC Affiliates and the
Duke Energy Distinguished Chair in Power Engineering Systems endowment, 71 students were awarded $150 stipends for enrolling and participating in the energy concentration. A total of $10,650 were awarded to the students! This program aims to continue awarding the energy concentration stipend to all eligible students annually, just before the winter break.
EPIC Energy Bootcamp
 In December, EPIC hosted an EPIC Energy Bootcamp for undergraduate engineering students interested in enhancing skills that relate to the energy and power industry. The 3-day Energy Bootcamp covered topics in power system protection, the distribution grid, utility-scale solar, and soft skills. The goal of the Bootcamp was to familiarize students with terminology, basic concepts and equipment, and help them make the connection between theory and real-world applications.
Arun Shrestha
from SEL,
Steve Blume
,
Andy Burch
,
Melissa Sease,
and
Rocky Sease
from SOS Intl., and
Tyler Boquet-Caron
from Carolina Solar Energy, joined us at EPIC and shared their expertise with approximately 30 students.
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CAPER update
The CAPER 2020 Spring Meeting will take place March 23-24, 2020 in North Charleston, SC. The topic will be on "Integrated Resource Planning - A Changing Landscape", with a keynote on "The Evolution of Integrated Resource Planning".
The Spring Meeting will provide a venue for power electronics experts to present the results of their cutting-edge research and learn what is in store for the future of power engineering. For more information and to register click
here.
CAPER Summer Courses have been announced and two locations are available for "Power System Analysis with Distributed Generation" courses. May 10 - June 5 classes will be held in Charleston SC, and July 12 - 31 classes will take place in Raleigh, NC. For more information visit
caper-usa.com/caper-summer-course
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EPIC staffing updates
EPIC is pleased to announce the following staff change at EPIC.
Dr. Joshua Tarbutton has been named EPIC's Assistant Director of Research in Precision Manufacturing.
Joshua joined UNC Charlotte in 2016, as Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science. He has won two teaching awards, published 50+ papers, holds a patent in displacement metrology, and is an Army Veteran.
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EPIC in the News
T&D World
Duke Energy grounds its microgrid deployment projects in measurable benefits to customers.
Charlotte Business Journal
UNC Charlotte's Energy Production and Infrastructure Center is working through three years of power-outage data from Duke Energy as part of a $300,000 federal grant to improve resiliency of the electric grid.
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EPIC Out and About
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EPIC at DistribuTECH 2020 |
EPIC will exhibit at the following conferences in the upcoming months. These conferences will focus on areas ranging from energy storage to power
electronics.
Stop by and say hello!
APEC 2020
(Booth 2137), New Orleans, LA, March 15-19, 2020
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EPIC generates the interest of industries, organizations, and educational institutions from across the US and countries around the world. We'd welcome a visit from you! Contact
Christina Kopitopoulou to schedule your visit.
| Advanced Energy |
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Carolina Solar Energy
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| GE |
| Hyperion Technology Group |
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Kinematix
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| LS Energy Solutions |
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NC Literary Fellows
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| NCSEA Women in Clean Energy |
| QM Power |
| Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster |
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SAS
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| SEL |
| SOS Intl |
| US Army CERDEC |
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About EPIC: The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte, serves as a state-of- the-art research center that provides
education
and applied research opportunities to students with energy related interests. Our industry-education partnerships unite students, faculty and industrial partners to collaborate on interdisciplinary research and learning.
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