UQM Tech Announces Government Contracts To Develop Advanced Grid-Connect Interface
UQM Technologies, Inc. announced that it has received a $1,046,500 cost-share contract from the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research Program and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop an advanced grid-connect inverter under its Advanced Power Electronics Interface (APEI) Initiative. The company’s cost share on the program will be $439,000 or 42%. The development effort will span a two year period.
The objective of the development effort is to design a cost-effective, flexible, readily-manufactured, ready to be commercialized prototype interface that will standardize the interconnection for a modular, scalable range of APEI systems. The resulting prototype is expected to be highly integrated and modular in design. It is asserted that this approach will reduce manufacturing cost and complexity while having sufficient flexibility to connect many types of distributed energy systems to the electric power grid and accommodate fluctuations in grid voltages. The company will collaborate with the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Colorado School of Mines on system modeling and certain aspects of the design effort.
"We are pleased that these two prestigious organizations have chosen our company to develop an advanced grid-connect inverter as part of the California Energy Commission’s APEI Initiative. Our extensive experience in developing power electronic controls that are compact and highly energy efficient and our manufacturing experience on electronic products such as dc-dc converters, will contribute to the success of this product development program," said William G. Rankin, President and Chief Executive Officer of UQM.
