Research Topics in New Energy, Green Technology, and Smart Grid Technology
- [DOE Microgrids Program 2021 - Department of Energy]
1. Power Electronics and Transistors
-- Power Electronics
- Power Converter Topologies
- Power Electronics Device Characterization
- Power Circuit Synthesis, Analysis and Application
- Design, Modeling and Control of Power Electronic Converters
-- Power Transistors
- SiC (Silicon Carbide) and GaN (Gallium Nitride) devices
2. Smart Grid Technologies and Networking, Modern Power System Operation and Planning
-- Smart Grid Technologies
- Grid Management Systems
- Transactive Energy Systems
- Virtual Power Plant
- Power System Stability, Control, and Optimization
- Power System Monitoring, Operations and Control
- Power System Modeling and Simulation
- Power System Reliability and Cybersecurity
- Distributed Control Applications Applied to Electrical Networks
- Smart Grids and Microgrids
- Microgrid Practical Implementations
- Microgrid Analysis
- Advances in Management of Grid Dynamics
- Architectures and Models for the Smart Grid
- Optimization of Smart Grids
- Applied Machine Learning for Intelligent Energy Systems
- Smart Electricity Distribution Systems
- Service-oriented Architectures for Smart Grids
- Forecasting Energy Consumption and Energy Prices
- Grid Architecture (including interoperability)
- Scalable Infrastructures for Smart Grids
- Fault Tolerance and Disaster Recovery in Smart Grids
- Dynamic Discovery in Smart Grids
- Load Balancing in Smart Grids
- Forecasting Grid Imbalances
- Technologies and Solutions for Improving Grid Resiliency
- Adaptive Grid Topologies
- Grid-to-vehicle and Vehicle-to-grid, Micro-grid
- Smart Grid Standards, Co-simulation, Test-beds, and Field Trials
- Large-scale monitoring, control and demand response
- Smart metering infrastructure and technologies
- Management and control of distributed energy generation, storage and consumption
- Advanced data fusion, mining and modeling in smart grid
- Renewable energy generation and new energy sources
- Advanced smart grid applications: grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid, Micro-grid
- Standardization and benchmark
-- Smart Grid Networking and Communications
- The Whole Picture - Sense, Communicate, Compute, Control
- Architecture of Web Services Interface for A Home Energy Management System
- Smart Meter Deployment
- Broadband Wireless and Smart Grid
- Sensors Use for Energy Management
- Advanced Metering Infrastructure
- Communications and Networks for Smart Grids and Smart Metering
- Enabling Information and Communication Technologies
- Wide-area Visualization for Enhanced Situational Awareness (PMUs, Micro-PMUs, and Other Visibility and Control Devices and Applications)
- Communication and Cyber Security
- Transport Layer Mechanisms for Smart Grids
- IP Interoperability in the Smart Grid
- “Enernet of Things” – or “Grid of Things
- Smart Grid Specific Protocols (DNP3, ICCP)
- Smart Grid Cyber Security and Privacy
- Security (physical and cyber)
- Cyber Attack Impact on Critical Smart Grid Infrastructures
- Smart Grid Sensor Technology
- Wireless Communications and Networks for the Smart Grid Last Mile
- Grid Edge Enabling Technologies
- Ultra-wide-area Monitoring and Measurements
- Ultra-wide-area Actuation and Control
- Energy Internet
- Load Modeling and Control
- Predictive Defense Model of the Smart Grid
- Smart Grid and Smart Grid Security
- Cyber-physical Systems
- Energy Storage Management and Modeling
- Support for Storage, Renewable Resources and Micro-grids
- Advanced Energy Storage Systems: Lithium ion Batteries and Beyond
- Software for Smart Grids
- Smart Grid Services and Management Models
- Demand Side Management, Demand Response, Dynamic Pricing
- Cloud Computing and the Smart Grid
- Machine Learning in Smart Grids
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Energy Data Analytics
- Smart Grid Data and Analytics
- Big Data Predictive Analytics for the Energy Generation
- Handling of Big Data in Grid Operations – Real-time Applications and Archiving
- Use of Cloud Technologies for Grid Operations
- Climate Change Impacts on Power Grids
- Renewable Energy Management
- Renewable (Green) Energy Sources and Systems as Wind Power, Hydropower, Solar Energy, Biomass, Biofuel, Geothermal Energy, Wave Energy, Tidal Energy, Hydrogen & Fuel Cells, Li-ion Batteries, etc.
- Solar, Wind and Energy Storage Integration in Smart Grids
- Smart Grids Transmission Infrastructure
- Wireless Power Transmission
- Implementation and Projects on Smart Grids
-- Modern Power System Operation and Planning
- Converged Infrastructures, Including Smart Cities
- Renewable Energy Integration
- Regulatory Drivers and Impediments
- Emerging Technologies of Modern Power System Operation and Planning
- Coordination and Integration of EMS, DMS, Renewables
- Utility/Service Providers Issues and Opportunities
- Utility/Service Provider Business Models
- System Planning to Accommodate High Levels of Distributed Energy Resources and Grid-edge Actors
- System Operations in the Face of High Penetration of Distributed and Renewable Resources (technology enabled system operations)
- Stakeholder Opportunities and Risks (Consumers, Prosumer, Microgrids, and Smart Building Operators)
- Weather Forecasting for Power Prediction (or Power Forecasting) to Drive Business: (smart grid management, integration of renewables and energy trading, etc.)
- Bottom Up Forecasting and Micro-climate Weather Forecasting
- Other Emerging Topics
3. Energy Storage and Utilization, Clean Vehicle Technologies and the Smart Grid
- Nanoscale Materials, Structures and Devices
- Super Capacitors (electrodes, electrolytes, etc.)
- Electrical Energy Storage
- Chemical Energy Storage
- Electrochemical Energy Storage
- Thermal Energy Storage
- Mechanical Energy Storage
- Quantum Battery
- Lithium-sulfur Battery
- Lithium-metal Battery
- Lithium-silicon Battery
- Lithium-ion Battery Materials (electrodes, catalysts, electrolytes, etc.)
- Advanced Lead-acid Battery
- Electrode Materials and Electrolytes
- Electric Vehicles Integration
- Smart Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
- Electric Vehicle Charging Integration in Distribution Grids
- Pricing Models for Charging Stations
- Hybrid Car Energy and New Battery Technologies
- Grid Integration of Plug-in Electric Vehicles and Distributed Renewable Energy Resources
- Integration of Electric Vehicles and Battery Technology
- Modeling and control of Hybrid Electric Vehicles
- EV-smart Grid Integration
- Internet of Electric Vehicles and Smart Grid
- Vehicles-to-grid Communications
- Dynamic Spectrum Access Technologies for Internet of Electric Vehicles (IoEV)
- Grid-based Network and Services for IoEV
- IoEV for Smart Grid
- Power Scheduling for Charging IoEV
- Modeling and Simulation for the Interaction of Grids and EVs
- Battery Control for HEV and Energy Storage Systems
- IC Engine Management Systems
- Materials for Fuel Cell Applications (electrodes, electrolytes, membranes, electrolytes, catalysts, etc.)
- Hydrogen Energy Materials for Hydrogen Production, Hydrogen Storage, Hydrogen Delivery
- Next-generation Energy Storage Applications (thermoelectric materials, metal-air batteries, Na-S batteries, solar cells, heat storage, etc.)
- Alternative Vehicular Energy
- Electric, Fuel Cell and Hybrid Vehicles
- Other Emerging Topics
4. Environmental Law and Energy Infrastructure, New Energy Technologies and Green/Smart Buildings
-- Environmental Law and Energy Infrastructure
- Greenhouse Gases
- Converting Greenhouse Gas into Fuel
-- Energy Efficiency and Green Buildings
- Intelligent and Energy-efficient Buildings
- Application of Nanomaterials in Construction
-- Nuclear Energy
- Advances in Nuclear Power Plants
- Nuclear Energy and Global Environment
- Hybrid energy system
-- Hydrogen Production
- Hydrogen Production Using Nuclear Energy
- Wind-to-Hydrogen Production
- Photoelectrochemical (PEC) Device to Produce Hydrogen
-- Offshore Wind Research
- Small, Midsize, Large Wind Turbine Research
- Emerging Wind Turbine Technologies
- Gearbox Reliability
- Onshore and Offshore Wind Energy Development
- Wind Power Plants Development
- Power Transmission Solutions for Wind Energy
- Energy Storage for Wind Power
- Offshore Geotechnics and Energy
- Offshore and Onshore Wind Farms Utility Grid Connections and Integration
- Offshore and Onshore Wind Assessment, Certification and Risk Analysis
- Onshore Wind Farm Environmental Impact Assessment
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for Wind Turbine Blade Inspections
- Legal Aspects of the Supply and Construction of Onshore Wind Farms
-- Identification, Assessment and Mapping of Geothermal Resources
- Development, Expansion and Maintenance of Thermal Databases
- Modeling of Hydrothermal Systems
- Enhanced Geothermal Systems Technologies to Capture Energy from Resources
- Hydrothermal and Resource (Hot Water and/or Steam) Confirmation and Applications
- Low-Temperature Hydrothermal Resources (with Temperatures at or below 300°F) and Applications
- On-site Borehole Temperature-Depth Logging
- Measurement and Analysis of Rock Sample Thermal Conductivity
-- Biomass Characterization
- Biomass Process and Sustainability Analyses
- Whole-Systems Modelling and Analysis
- Energy Crop Strategies
- Waste-to-Energy (WtE)/Energy-from-Waste (EfW)
- Availability of Agricultural and Forest Residues
- Biomass Feedstocks for Renewable Energy Generation
- Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Urban Waste Feedstocks
- Biochemical and Thermochemical Conversion Technologies, Including Biorefining
- Integrated Biorefinery Processes
- Biorefinery: Chemicals and Materials from Biomass
- Anaerobic Digestion Technologies (Biogas, Biomethane, Hydrogen)
- Chemical and Catalyst Science
- Biocatalysis for Bioresource Transformation
- Metabolic Engineering and Fermentation Processes
- Microalgal Biofuels
- Micro and Macro Algae Technology
- Algae Cultivation and Harvest
- Algae Production and Conversion Systems
- Biological Hydrogen Production
- Feedstock Production and Genetic Improvement of Plants
- Bioethanol Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass
- Purified Lignins
- Lignofuel Production Plants
- Future Opportunities for Lignocellulosic Feedstocks
-- Wave and Tidal Energy Resource Characterization
- Device Development, Testing, and Environmental Modelling
- Power Take-off and Device Control
- Environmental Impact and Appraisal
- Grid Connection and System Aspects
-- Methane Hydrate Systems
- Synoptic View on Methane Hydrates
- Systems Models of Methane Hydrate Behavior
- Basic Physics and Chemistry of Methane Hydrates
- Methane Hydrate Resource Assessment
- Methane Hydrate Production Analysis
- GeoEnvironment: Hydrates in the Past and the Present
- Methane Hydrate Related Geohazards
- Methane Hydrate Role in the Global Carbon Cycle
- Methane Hydrate Research and Development
- Methane Hydrate Laboratory and Field Characterization
-- Hot Dry Rock (HDR) Geothermal Energy
- Exploration
- Drilling
- Direct Use
- Geothermal Heat Pumps
- Electricity Production
- Advanced Technologies
5. Green Computing and Communications Technologies, Green Society Applications
- Green infrastructure sustainable design and technologies
- Energy- and power-constrained devices and gateways
- Ultra-low power systems architectures
- Low-power, distributed data processing on sensors
- Energy-efficient M2M wired and wireless communications and networking
- Optimization and/or analysis in green computing and communications (including core network optimization)
- Green big data, cloud, and data center architecture
- Green technologies for 5G (SDN, IoT, and crowdsourcing, etc.)
- Energy harvesting communications and networks
- Smart metering infrastructure and technologies
- Large-scale monitoring, control and demand response
- Advanced data fusion, mining and modeling in smart grid
- Management and control of distributed energy generation, storage and consumption
- Advanced smart grid applications: grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid, Micro-grid
- Smart sensing systems
- Smart city
- Green vehicle, green home, green buildings and green anything
- Green industrial automation and control
- Intelligent Transport Systems and control
- Energy efficiency in aerial/UAV communication networks
- Green social networks
- Applications of blockchain in energy management and trading
6. Energy Systems
- Energy storage and conversion
- Energy systems at the nexus of control and machine learning
- Building energy systems
- Control co-design for energy systems
- Wind turbin control
- Airborne wind energy systems
- Marine Energy systems
- Energy aware robotic systems
- General energy systems
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Directed-energy Weapons (DEW): high-power microwave (HPM) weapons, lasers are considered point weapons
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Other Emerging Topics
7. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)
- Post-combustion carbon capture (the primary method used in existing power plants)
- Pre-combustion carbon capture (largely used in industrial processes)
- Oxy-fuel combustion systems.
