DOE Funding to Energize Electric Power Research at Ohio State

Back to News
May 16, 2019

Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Engineering are developing a new generation of direct current (DC) circuit breakers, with the potential to help transform the U.S. power system.

Led by Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Jin Wang, the $2.3 million project is one of 12 awarded a total of $35 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Part of the Advanced Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) BREAKERS program, the selected projects aim to discover new ways of harnessing medium-voltage electricity for applications in industry, transportation, on the grid and beyond, which could greatly improve efficiency and reliability across most of the U.S. economy.

Wang’s project, “T-Type Modular DC Circuit Breaker (T-Breaker) for Future DC Networks,” will develop a medium-voltage direct-current (MVDC) circuit breaker prototype based on a modular design using silicon carbide. His team will collaborate with researchers from the United Technology Research Center to create the prototype.

Follow the link to learn more about Wang's project and the DOE funding.