2009 Technology Innovation Strategic Programs

Materials - Delivery and End Use

Overview

This program will develop and apply nanotechnologies and other new materi-als to increase power transfer capability, enhance grid controllability and reliabil-ity, boost power delivery and end-use efficiency, and address climate change and other emerging issues. Strategic work addresses knowledge and capability gaps relating to cable dielectrics, power elec-tronics materials and devices, transmis-sion-class insulators and structures, gaseous dielectrics, batteries, and building envelope components.

Current Situation

In many cases, materials that date to the first half of the 20th century remain in components on the power delivery sys-tem. As equipment fails or reaches the end of its life, new equipment is installed that generally employs incremental mate-rial improvements. However, a historical obstacle to widespread adoption of new materials has been the long product cycles (i.e., 40 years or longer) of compo-nents on the power delivery system.

Today, various drivers are motivating more rapid adoption of equipment with advanced materials. A lack of sufficient investment in the power delivery system in recent decades has created a backlog of needed upgrades. The widespread use of digital loads such as microprocessor-based assembly lines and server farms has also placed new requirements on the power delivery system, necessitating system upgrading. Additionally, the advent of the “smart grid” will require significant infrastructure upgrading. Finally, accom-modating carbon reduction technologies, such as renewables, energy storage, demand response, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) across the grid will also require upgrades to components and devices with advanced materials.

The Opportunity

The electric power industry is on cusp of a revolution in advanced materials tech-nology. A key to this revolution is nano-technology, which uses technology to manipulate matter at the nano scale. Dielectrics that utilize nanofiller materials promise breakthroughs in voltage endur-

ance and breakdown strength. Similar revolutionary improvements are possible with nano-based coatings, initially in fiberglass transmission components. Power electronics devices that use advanced materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride offer even greater control, reliability, and flexibility of the power delivery network. Identification of a suitable replacement for the greenhouse gas sulfur hexafluoride with less environ-mental impact would fundamentally change circuit breakers, switches, and other high voltage equipment.

In power utilization, new materials for the building envelope, such as electro-chromic coatings for windows, advanced building insulation, and cool roof tech-nologies, can enable enormous improve-ment in the energy efficiency of buildings, reducing power consumption without compromising comfort. Many of these technologies have the potential to

Strategic Connections

Grid Transformation•

Nanotech for highlyreliable cable dielectric

Nanoparticle-stregthenedfiberglass

R&D 100 Award - Super GTO SiC Switch

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Haresh Kamath, 650.855.2268, hkamath@epri.com

For more information, contact the EPRI Customer Assistance Center at 800.313.3774 (askepri@epri.com)

C O N TA C T S

October 2009

be crosscutting, with applications in the generation and nuclear sectors, as well as in power delivery and utilization.

The Program

The Materials – Delivery and End Use strategic program consists of five projects. The first project explores nanocomposite dielectrics and the cost/benefit tradeoffs between nanocomposite dielectrics and conventional dielectrics. Nanocomposites promise to deliver higher breakdown strength and greater voltage endurance than conventional cable dielectrics, enabling cables with smaller diameter to carry the same power as larger cables.

The EPRI project on advanced power electronics and devices focuses on silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Silicon car-bide, when used as the base material for power electronics devices, offers signifi-cantly higher breakdown strength, lower switching losses, and higher tolerance of high junction temperatures than silicon, making this material extremely attractive for high-voltage power electronics devices. Gallium nitride enables use of optically sensitive switches that can be controlled or triggered by pulses of light.

A third project is investigating the poten-tial of nano-based coatings or epoxies to improve the performance of fiberglass transmission components such as hot-sticks, guy strain insulators, cross-arms, and polymer insulators. Potential improvements include resistance to scratching, abrasion, impact, water per-meability, tracking, as well as improved strength.

A fourth project seeks to provide early identification, qualification, testing, and development of suitable substitutes for sulfur hexafluoride that will ensure that transmission systems will not be compro-mised by the absence of alternatives in the future.

In the power utilization area, building heating and cooling loads remain a major opportunity for savings in end-use energy efficiency. New materials for the building envelope can enable enormous improve-ment in the energy efficiency of build-ings, reducing power consumption without compromising comfort. This project is focusing on thin film electro-chromic coatings for windows, advanced building insulation materials, and cool roof technologies.

Value

Advanced materials for power delivery applications can enhance power system control and increase power flow through constrained transmission corridors. These capabilities can help relieve congestion and defer or avoid new transmission construction. Advanced materials incor-porated into power delivery equipment help enhance power system reliability, improve power quality, and reduce ongo-ing maintenance costs. The new equip-ment typically offers a longer life (e.g., 80 years compared to 40 years), avoiding future capital costs and enabling utilities to improve asset utilization by doing more with less. In some cases, advanced materials such as alternatives SF6 to can reduce environmental impacts.

In total, incorporation of advanced mate-rials into power delivery equipment can facilitate widespread adoption of smart grid technologies and help accommodate carbon-reducing technologies, such as renewables, energy storage, PHEVs, and demand response on the power delivery system. In power utilization, advanced materials foster end-use energy efficiency and improve consumer satisfaction with electric service via reduced energy costs and services to help install energy effi-cient equipment and materials.