This agreement – formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding-- was signed by Siemens Corporate Technology, the company’s central research and development unit located in Princeton, New Jersey, and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado; Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.
The MOU establishes a framework for research scientists to share information and resources, and to potentially collaborate on technologies to help integrate innovative power electronic devices with the electric grid, including smart inverters for solar panels, batteries, and electrical vehicles that are capable of supporting the nation’s power system. The MOU may also lead to jointly-led scientific workshops, lectures, and symposia, as well as co-written publications and journal articles.
The potential collaboration is expected to leverage Siemens experience commercializing innovative power system technologies by supplying its Software Defined Inverter (SDI) technology, which would be tested and validated at specialized grid facilities at the three national laboratories. This promising new technology, once validated, could be incorporated into new technologies to strengthen and modernize the nation’s electric grid, including microgrids and distributed energy resources such as energy storage.
The MOU covers a five-year period with provisions to renew or extend the MOU.
