Duke Psychiatry Faculty Receive Energy Initiative Seed Grant

By Susan Gallagher
In 2020-2021, the Duke University Energy Initiative’s Energy Research Seed Fund will support projects addressing renewable energy’s integration into the grid, battery performance, electrochemical catalysts, utilities’ decision-making, the energy-water nexus and energy’s connections with war and health.

Duke Psychiatry faculty members Stefan Goetz, PhD, and Caitlin Fang, PhD, received a grant for their project, "Generating Virtual Inertia Through Crowds of Photovoltaic Inverters":

More electric power systems are relying on renewable energy coupled with power electronics, which has led to the retirement of synchronous generators. The resulting loss of inertia (energy stored in a rotating mass) threatens power systems’ stability and renewables’ continued growth. This project will develop a novel distributed control framework that operates on existing photovoltaic (PV) inverters to contribute virtual inertia and other grid-supportive functions. A 100% renewable, proof-of-concept microgrid will be used to demonstrate the framework’s effectiveness.

Learn more about the seed grant program and the other funded projects.

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