The U.S. Department of Energy announced $35 million in awards for 12 projects that find new ways to harness medium-voltage electricity for applications in industry, transportation, on the grid and beyond, DOE said in the press release.

The selected projects are part of ARPA-E's Building Reliable Electronics to Achieve Kilovolt Effective Ratings Safely (BREAKERS) program, as well as the latest OPEN+ cohort, Kilovolt Devices.

"America's energy landscape is constantly evolving, and as new ways to generate and distribute power gain popularity, it's critical we develop the tools to maximize their utility," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. "These ARPA E projects serve first and foremost to modernize how we move power around safely, reliably and efficiently, creating a new set of capabilities for tomorrow's utilities and industry."

The 8 BREAKERS projects will work to develop new direct current (DC) devices to better manage power by eliminating electrical faults, improving efficiency and reaction times, and potentially enabling greater proliferation of energy storage and renewable resources. The four Kilovolt Devices OPEN+ projects will focus on a variety of challenges facing power electronics in the medium-voltage space, with a particular eye toward grid security and reliability.

Source: Department of Energy