Building the Electric Power Grid One Unit at a Time

As the world experiences an electrical revolution at a historic scale, equally historic innovations are essential to meet the changing demands of the electric grid. Beginning with light bulbs and moving forward through motor drives—all the way to today’s renewable energy sources and the electrification of load sectors—global advances in electrical technology now rely on power electronics (PE). It is a key technology for power conditioning and grid integration of distributed energy resources and for delivering power over long distances mainly from offshore wind and utility-scale solar farms. The technology is vital for management and conversion of energy for end-use applications such as megawatt-scale charging infrastructure and industrial processes and equipment.