266
One-Cycle
Controlled Reactive Power Supply Inverter (OCC-RPSI) for Distributed Energy--One-Cycle
Control, Inc., 13844 Alton Parkway, Suite 137, Irvine, CA 92618; 949-916-0100; www.onecyclecontrol.com
Dr. Gregory T. Smedley, PhD, Principal Investigator, gsmedley@onecyclecontrol.com
Dr. Gregory T. Smedley, PhD, Business Official, gsmedley@onecyclecontrol.com
DOE Grant No.
DE-FG02-07ER84692
Amount: $100,000
Reactive power is both a problem and a necessity for the
electric grid. However, reactive power
occupies valuable capacity on the electric grid and can prevent loads from
sourcing adequate real power, leading to brown-outs and black-outs. By using distributed energy resources (such
as fuel cells and reciprocating engine generators) to provide reactive power
close to the loads that require it, the operating margin of the electric grid –
and therefore its stability, reliability, and efficiency – can be substantially
improved. This project will develop a
controller for distributed energy (DE) inverters, which will enable DE
resources to deliver reactive power on demand.
The controller is based on a breakthrough One-Cycle Control technology,
which provides active conversion of three-phase power without software. The controller will: (1) enable a 10x
reduction in circuit complexity and the elimination of control software,
thereby providing a substantial boost in system reliability and performance;
(2) enable autonomous operation of the DE inverter to deliver real power to the
electric grid, while providing fast and precise reactive power on demand; and
(3) provide a substantial advantage over the current approach, where reactive
power demand is met primarily by large, slow-response, central generation
systems. These advantages will be
particularly important as the number of DE resources continues to grow from the
present installed base of more than 12 million units.
Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: A
controller that enables DE resources to deliver reactive power on demand should
be applicable to a wide range of DE resource inverters, including fuel cells,
solar, wind, reciprocating engine generators, etc. The primary benefits are
high-quality power, high reliability (due to low component count and no
software), and reactive power on-demand.