Research Spotlight
Research Spotlight by Prof. Sarah Burch
As climate change intensifies, the world needs to transition to clean energy. However, the pathways chosen to make that transition happen aren’t always equitable.
For example, subsidies for rooftop solar panels systematically exclude non-homeowners. Poorly planned renewable energy projects infringe on Indigenous land rights. Lower-income neighbourhoods receive less investment for things like EV charging infrastructure.
To help ensure justice is baked into the design and deployment of energy…
Research Spotlight by Prof. Kumaraswamy Ponnambalam and Prof. Ali Elkamel
Today’s electricity system includes more and more smaller-scale sources of energy, plus more and more electric vehicles (EVs) that act as small-scale storage systems when they’re plugged in. Virtual power plants (VPPs) help manage all those “distributed energy resources” by pooling them into larger packages that can be included in day-ahead electricity markets.
In those markets, participants buy and sell electricity at binding prices for the following day. But making accurate bids can be…
Research Spotlight by Prof. Xiao-Yu Wu and Michael Anthony Giovanniello
The intermittent nature of wind and solar power means many microgrids still rely on highly polluting diesel generators to fill gaps in supply. But advances in lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells — two key energy-storage technologies — could change the game.
WISE researcher Xiao-Yu Wu and his collaborator, Michael Giovanniello, set out to assess how. The investigators created a model of a hypothetical Toronto-area wind-powered microgrid with a hybrid storage system serving 10,000…
Research Spotlight by Prof. Sahar Pirooz Azad and Fatemeh Ahmadloo
The transfer of power from offshore wind farms and other converter-interfaced renewable energy sources (RESs) to remote loads may rely on direct-current (DC) transmission lines. The integration of RESs in the grid via converters and power transfer over DC lines result in the connection of multiple converters to a shared DC point in large-scale power systems.
The neighbouring converters interact with one another and cause instability and an undesirable transient response in the power grid.
W…
Research Spotlight by Amelia Clarke, Laura Tozer, and Samantha Linton
Urban areas account for roughly three-quarters of global carbon emissions, making local governments key players in the fight against climate change. However, few studies have looked at the best municipal pathways to net zero.
WISE researcher Amelia Clarke and her collaborators set out to address that gap. After reviewing academic research, government documents, and a global database of municipal carbon emissions, they validated their findings through case studies of eight municipalities…
Jessie Ma and Bala Venkatesh
Right now, energy generators sell their electricity to grid operators in a competitive energy market. Grid operators also oversee a parallel “demand response” procurement program, where big energy consumers like steel plants and pulp and paper mills offer to curb their electricity use during peak time — for a price
This can take a lot of pressure off the electricity grid. It also saves money by reducing the need for the most expensive forms of electricity generation. But according to WISE…
Paul Parker, Monika Mikhail, David Mather, and Costa Kapsis
Today, buildings account for nearly a third of global energy consumption. Net-zero energy structures aim to decarbonize the sector by generating as much electricity on site as they use each year. But what happens when their actual energy consumption is initially higher than intended?
In the case of a 100,000-square-foot office building recently constructed in Waterloo, Ontario, closing that performance gap required a complex process of optimizing the HVAC systems. WISE researchers were there…
Ian Rowlands and Yixin Chen
Socio-political factors can make or break the large-scale deployment of virtually any new technology. Energy storage (e.g., batteries, pumped hydro, and compressed air) is one such technology, requiring broad social acceptance if it is to play an essential role for a sustainable energy transition.
So how are those factors affecting energy storage deployment in China — the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter? Because Chinese media outlets typically reflect government positions and further…
Michael Fowler, Yueqi Wang, Dan Dan, Yangjun Zhang, Yuping Qian, Satyam Panchal, Weifeng Li, Manh-Kien Tran, Yi Xie
Flying cars are no longer reserved for sci-fi novels, with groups like Boeing, Toyota and NASA working to move electric vehicles into the skies. One of the key challenges is ensuring the power batteries in these airborne automobiles don’t overheat during takeoff and landing, when discharge rates peak.
Flat heat pipe (FHP) technology offers a promising solution. Thanks to its high heat conductivity and large surface area, it can effectively dissipate the heat from battery packs and ensure…
Prof. Shesha Jayaram, Mahdi Khanali and Anurag Devadiga
Transformers are a crucial — and expensive — part of wind farm infrastructure, boosting the low-voltage output from turbine generators to the higher voltage required by the grid. But too often, they fail prematurely.
That’s because standard transformers aren’t designed to handle spikes in high-frequency energy that are common in wind farms, where vacuum circuit breakers and switching devices often create transient voltages. As a result, they can break down the transformer’s insulation,…
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