Who We Are
NCREPT (National Center for Reliable Power Transmission) was established for the purpose of investigating solid-state solutions for the electric power grid including protection devices and FACTS as well as energy storage and distributed generation applications.
Our Mission
The primary mission of the project are in Design, Packaging, and Test of Advanced Power Electronics. Specifically, the center aims:
- To research and develop prototypes of advanced power electronics systems for applications in the power grid including both solid-state protection devices and energy storage
- To develop advanced packaging solutions for high current, high voltage power semiconductor devices and applications
- To establish a state-of-the-art test facility for advanced power electronic circuit and package designs for distribution-level voltages (15 kV-class) and high currents (3000 A at 480 V AC 3-phase)
- To provide much needed human resource in the form of educated students for the newly emerging technologies of the power utility and power electronics sectors
Core Research Areas
NCREPT is involved in five areas of research that impact the realization of power electronics solutions:
1) Power Electronic Design and Modeling
2) Power Electronic Packaging
3) Power Electronic Testing
4) Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuit Design
5) Sensors and Controls
The University is home to the most comprehensive university-based electronic packaging facility available in the United States. The Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramics (LTCC) Laboratory coupled with thin and thick film processing laboratories provides a full range of electronic packaging. Further, accelerated testing equipment is available to perform reliability studies.
NCREPT is a 12,000 square foot, $5M, national-caliber power electronic test facility with three 2 MVA distribution-level test circuits. This medium voltage test facility is capable of 3-phase test circuit regeneration at the 2 MVA level at 480 V, 4.16 kV and 13.8kV. NCREPT also can be reserved (on a fee basis) to support IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 testing of grid-interface equipment, and has successfully supported 3rd-party certifications. The facility has the capability to test truck bed-mounted equipment within its bays. Current DC capability is 750kW. Variable voltage, variable frequency 3-phase power is available at the 750 kVA level. The NCREPT center supports three tiers of service to provide the most economical testing support possible to NCREPT users.
For more information about testing and center capabilities, please download the NCREPT brochure PDF, or contact one of our NCREPT Senior Research Assistants, Anna Corbitt and Wesley Schwartz.