A team of researchers from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering is developing a solar electricity system that can aid communities in maintaining electricity during natural disasters. The project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) program, which aims to increase resilience to disasters by employing renewable energy. The DOE has committed $33 million to fund 20 research projects throughout the country to help communities transition to a clean energy future, improve grid reliability and security, and enhance disaster resilience. This particular project will receive $3 million in funding.
Yuan Li, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is leading the project. According to her, extreme weather can knock power out for several days, particularly if it damages critical parts of electricity infrastructure. The researchers’ solution is to create a system that duplicates the crucial infrastructure as multiple submodules, allowing the electric system to keep working even if part of it is compromised.
Li and her team are working on developing lightweight, compact inverters for solar power plants. These inverters help regulate the flow of electricity from power plants to the electric grid by converting direct current to alternating current. They are small enough that a team of two people can set them up without heavy equipment, allowing solar power plants to quickly restore electricity in the wake of disruptions, such as the hurricanes that batter Florida during the summer.
The inverter being developed by the team will have identical modules that handle different sections of a solar power plant. If severe weather damages part of the inverter, the remaining modules will continue to function. The technology also allows workers to replace the failed part while the rest of the inverter system is generating power.
The team, which includes researchers from the college’s Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response Center and Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems, along with fellow faculty members from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will also collaborate with the City of Tallahassee, Northeastern University, and the National Renewable Energy Lab on the project.
According to Simon Foo, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a project member, building community resilience to handle natural disasters is an interdisciplinary problem. He believes that disaster affects several aspects of a community, and the response to it must take all of them into account.
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