Landon Mackey, PhD EE Candidate at FREEDM won first prize at the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program (NCROEP) Symposium held April 15-16, 2019 for his poster entitled “Protecting Distributed Renewable Energy Resources with Direct Current Circuit Breakers.”

“I am awed by the power of the ocean. The mission of the NCROEP program and FREEDM Systems Center directly align to my ambitions of shifting global energy production, distribution, and use to highly sustainable, renewable, and efficient resources” states Mackey.

Mackey’s research is applicable to the entire DC world, including DC microgrids, electric vehicle chargers, solar farms, building distribution, and battery backup systems.  The goal is to develop high-speed, high-efficiency, and scalable protection devices for medium-voltage, bidirectional, DC power flow. These technologies will facilitate the harnessing, transmission, and distribution of renewable energy resources while safely delivering energy to the customer.

According to Mackey, this research could advance the global shift from AC to DC power distribution networks. In reference to his future research, Mackey said, “every aspect of electric energy consumption is shifting towards DC, my research aims to continue facilitating this shift.”

This research was accomplished under the guidance of Dr. Iqbal Husain with support from the University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute.