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DOE OSTI · 1887971

An Innovative Circuit Breaker for Renewable Power Grids

Schmalz, Steve
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Abstract

A key step towards a carbon-neutral future could be reached through dispersed power grids, featuring networks of local-scale renewable energy and battery storage plants. To prevent these power grids from damaging themselves and their surroundings when electrical faults arise, they must be integrated with ‘circuit breakers’, which temporarily interrupt the current flowing through them. However, currently available circuit breakers cannot handle the medium-voltage direct currents best suited for these grids. Through an innovative new circuit breaker design, Steve Schmalz and his colleagues at Eaton Corporation, the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Virginia Tech and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), hope that this challenge will soon be overcome.

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24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTIONdirect currentdispersed power gridhybrid circuit breakermedium voltagemicrogridrenewable energy

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BibTeXRIS

Schmalz, Steve. 2022-09-14. An Innovative Circuit Breaker for Renewable Power Grids. https://doi.org/10.33548/scientia839

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