The FREEDM Systems Center, situated at North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus, was recently toured by prominent business leaders on the White House Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The FREEDM Systems Center, which stands for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management, is an NSF-funded research center which focuses on the development of smart grid technology and distributed energy.

Council members attended a "listening session" in which local and national smart grid executives put forth their views on problems and opportunity for jobs within the industry. The roundtable discussion, which was hosted by NC State’s Chancellor Randy Woodson, incidentally coincided with President Obama's visit to North Carolina.

“The visit by the Council members was fantastic,” said Rogelio Sullivan, managing director of the FREEDM Center and Advanced Transportation Energy Center. “It gave us the opportunity to not only talk about the potential impact the Center’s research and development can have in the future on energy and the environment, but it also gave us the chance to describe how the FREEDM education activities can help to develop a well-prepared workforce for the Smart Grid.”

Sullivan further added that, “Our goal is to create a more efficient, smaller, and lighter transformer down the road. It will need to be fully developed functionally, then tested for reliability, durability and other qualities, before it can be made commercially attractive.”

With more than 60 smart grid companies in the region, the FREEDM Systems Center’s location in the Triangle, which is a top smart grid hub, has proven advantageous as it places the company in the unique position of being able to easily focus on furthering the development of smart grid technology.

The smart solid-state transformers are devices capable of providing the necessary upgrade required for efficient management of multiple electrical devices, which consume energy and can also push it back onto the grid.

Smart transformers developed by the FREEDM Center help in handling power more efficiently compared to transformers currently in use. These devices, which communicate with the rest of the grid, can help in regulating voltage, frequency and other electrical properties. They also provide utilities with capabilities to infuse renewable energy into the grid. This can effectively decrease instances of blackouts and power surges.

Stephen Cass, special projects editor for the Technology Review, observed that the smart transformers present “a major advance for smart grids, allowing the flow of electricity to be controlled and rerouted in a manner similar to how data is routed around the Internet.”

For information on the FREEDM Systems Center, please visit www.freedm.ncsu.edu/