News

AlN / GaN / GaAs / SiC Power Semis plus Smart Materials and the Smart Grid

June 15, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

Darnell Group has announced the Keynote and Plenary speakers for the 2014 Darnell Energy Summit to be hosted in Richmond, Virginia, September 23-25. The Keynote presentation on "Smart Materials Enhance Efficiency of Building, Micro Grid, and Alternative Energy Systems," will be presented by Mary Doswell, Senior Vice President - Retail and Alternative Energy Solutions, Dominion Power. It will be followed by presentations from thought leaders across North America and Europe. Topics will range from smart materials for energy harvesting to next-generation materials for power semiconductors to micro grids and the smart gird.

Plenary Session 1 on the morning of September 23, will include: 1.1 A review of Energy Harvesting Materials and Techniques, Dr. K. Mossi, Ph.D., Graduate Program Director, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University; 1.2 GaAs Powering Forward, Bob Conner, CEO, Founder, Sarda Technologies, Inc.; 1.3 GaN Transistors – Giving New Life to Moore’s Law, Alex Lidow, CEO, Efficient Power Conversion Corporation; and 1.4 Aluminum-Nitride for High-Voltage Power Electronics, Baxter Moody, Director of Device Development, HexaTech, Inc.

Plenary Session 2 will follow in the afternoon and will include: 2.1 Silicon-Carbide Power Electronics for Energy Applications: Perspectives, Targets, and the path to Applications through European Union SPEED Project Dr. Daniel Fernández, CTO of INAEL Electrical Systems and coordinator of EU project SPEED; 2.2 European Union DCC+G (DC Components +Grid) Project, an Update, Bernd Wunder, Fraunhofer Institute and BJ Sonnenberg, Emerson Network Power; and 2.3 Smart Grid 2.0: The Energy Internet, Alex Huang, Progress Energy Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University.

Darnell’s Energy Summit will be hosted in Richmond, Virginia, September 23-25. Save the Dates! And Save your Place with an Early Registration today.

The 2014 Darnell's Energy Summit (DES '14) will span the entire range of new technologies for next-generation power and energy system solutions. To be hosted September 23-25 in Richmond, Virginia, DES '14 will include discussions of SiC, GaN, GaAs, composites, ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, and other advanced/smart materials. The application focus will be broad and will include: power conversion, motion control, energy harvesting, energy storage, micro grids, wireless power, smart systems, thermal management, and more. DES '14 will be a combined event featuring the Eleventh Darnell Power Forum (DPF '14) plus the Sixth Green Building Power Forum (GBPF '14) plus the Fifth Smart Grid Electronics Forum (SGEF '14).

DES ‘14 will feature the next-generation power electronic devices, architectures and systems. Separate calls for papers have been issued for each of the constituent events. Each of the individual events will maintain its unique identity and will continue to serve different groups of stakeholders. These co-located events will bring together thought leaders across the areas of advanced power electronics, energy management, micro grids, the smart gird, and related topics of global importance. DES ’14 will leverage the successful track records of the separate events to create powerful opportunities for synergy.

"DES ’14 will build on our successful inaugural Darnell Energy Summit and will include expanded content such as in-depth discussions about emerging ‘smart materials’. With a single registration, you can attend any sessions of interest during these simultaneous leading-edge events," stated Jeff Shepard, President of Darnell Group. "Plus you'll have access to the combined Exhibit Hall and will have an opportunity to network with an outstanding group of international experts in a wide range of power electronics, dc building power, and smart grid technologies," Shepard concluded.

DPF '14 will again be an exciting international event that focuses on "advanced power conversion technologies" needed for the successful development of next-generation power systems. There is tremendous synergy possible from discussions broadly focused on power management, energy efficiency, advanced components, energy storage, new power architectures, and more. DPF is a solutions-oriented event, with a strong emphasis on practical advances in power electronics. In addition to a strong focus on today's "best practices," DPF looks forward toward next-generation solutions and advances.

GBPF '14 will consider all aspects of building power including high-voltage and low-voltage dc distribution, hybrid ac and dc distribution architectures, and dc micro grids. A convergence of technologies is occurring that will change how buildings are powered. These technologies include the continued rapid growth of distributed generation (DG) resources; the emergence of high-efficiency lighting technologies; wireless building automation systems; demand-side management of building energy use by electric utilities; and more.

Control, Communications and Security will be three of the major themes of SGEF '14. The successful deployment of the smart grid will be dependent on numerous technology and standards developments for electronic equipment. For the smart grid to have benefits, it must be able to reliably communicate to the downstream loads and also be able to turn these loads on/off or turn them up/down as appropriate.

The general Call for Papers is still open but time is limited, contact Richard Ruiz for details; [email protected]