Microgrid Research Center

Microgrid Research Center
Name	Microgrid Research Center
Established	2010
Type	Research institute
Director	Dr. Jane Smith
Location	Riverside, California, United States
Affiliations	University of California, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Microgrid Research Center The Microgrid Research Center is a dedicated institute focused on the development, testing, and deployment of distributed energy systems and resilient electricity networks. It conducts interdisciplinary research integrating renewable energy, energy storage, power electronics, control systems, and cybersecurity to support community-scale and campus microgrids. The Center collaborates with national laboratories, universities, industry partners, and local utilities to advance commercial adoption, policy analysis, and workforce development.

Overview and Mission

The Center’s mission emphasizes innovation in renewable integration, grid resilience, and decarbonization through applied research and demonstration projects aligned with priorities from U.S. Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, European Commission, National Science Foundation, and International Energy Agency. Its vision aligns with goals from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Paris Agreement, Clean Energy Ministerial, White House initiatives, and state-level programs such as California Public Utilities Commission proceedings. Leadership includes collaborators from University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Research Areas and Projects

Research spans renewable integration with photovoltaics and wind, storage optimization, microgrid controllers, power electronics, and demand-side management informed by programs at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Projects include demonstration microgrids in partnership with Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, San Diego Gas & Electric, Tennessee Valley Authority, and municipal partners such as City of San Diego and City of Riverside. Technical efforts reference standards and testbeds developed with IEEE, IEC, SAE International, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, California Independent System Operator, and Electric Power Research Institute. Cybersecurity and resilience work ties into initiatives led by Department of Homeland Security, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Sandia National Laboratories, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Pilot deployments and community projects coordinate with Rocky Mountain Institute, The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and local tribal authorities including Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

Facilities and Infrastructure

Facilities include a grid-forming inverter laboratory, hardware-in-the-loop systems, a renewable energy integration testbed, and a microgrid control center modeled after platforms used at California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Carnegie Mellon University. The Center hosts an electrical machine shop, a power systems simulation cluster linked with National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center resources, and anemometry and irradiance measurement arrays similar to those at National Renewable Energy Laboratory's National Wind Technology Center and Global Energy Interconnection. Field infrastructure includes community-scale battery energy storage systems deployed with Tesla, Inc., LG Chem, Siemens Energy, Schneider Electric, and ABB. Metering and data acquisition leverage partnerships with Scholz Research, smart inverter vendors, and utilities following interoperability guidelines from OpenADR Alliance, SunSpec Alliance, and GridWise Alliance.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The Center’s network includes academic partners such as University of California, Davis, University of California, Los Angeles, CUNY, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, Tsinghua University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and National University of Singapore. Industry collaborations include General Electric, Siemens Energy, Schneider Electric, Hitachi Energy, ABB, Schlumberger, Copper Development Association, Bloom Energy, and Enphase Energy. Funding partners and programmatic collaborators comprise U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity, California Energy Commission EPIC program, European Union Horizon 2020, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Australian Renewable Energy Agency, and philanthropic organizations such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. Consortium activities engage Electric Power Research Institute, Clean Energy States Alliance, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, American Public Power Association, and regional transmission organizations like PJM Interconnection and New York Independent System Operator.

Education, Training, and Outreach

Educational programs include graduate fellowships, postdoctoral appointments, professional short courses, and certificate programs developed with Coursera, edX, IEEE Power & Energy Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and American Society for Engineering Education. The Center runs K–12 outreach with FIRST Robotics Competition, National Science Teachers Association, STEM.org, and community colleges including Riverside Community College District and Mt. San Jacinto College. Workforce training collaborates with trade unions and apprenticeships through International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, United Association, and utility workforce development initiatives. Public engagement includes webinars and policy workshops with Brookings Institution, Resources for the Future, World Resources Institute, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and The Aspen Institute.

Funding and Governance

Governance follows a board structure with representatives from universities, industry, and national labs and adheres to compliance frameworks used by National Institutes of Health for research administration and Office of Management and Budget guidelines for federal grants. Funding sources include federal grants from U.S. Department of Energy, state grants from California Energy Commission, competitive awards from National Science Foundation, cooperative research agreements with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and industry-sponsored research from Siemens Energy, General Electric, Tesla, Inc., and energy service companies. Intellectual property policies reference best practices from Association of American Universities and technology transfer offices modeled after Stanford Office of Technology Licensing and MIT Technology Licensing Office.

Category:Energy research institutes