DETROIT — The Power Electronics Industry Collaborative has been awarded a $500,000, two‐year grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for a program titled “Strengthening the Domestic Power Electronics Ecosystem.”
Detroit’s NextEnergy, the state’s advanced energy industry accelerator, will receive more than $300,000 of the money to support grant activities.
The PEIC is a Michigan-based, national group made up of original equipment manufacturers, suppliers, researchers and other stakeholders, working together to drive the development and growth of the power electronics industry in the United States.
The award comes under NIST’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia program, which provides support to industry‐driven consortia to develop plans that address
challenges impeding advanced manufacturing in the United States.
Funds provided through the AMTech program will help develop an in‐depth understanding of the manufacturing and innovation capabilities of the nation’s fragmented and diverse power electronics industry, and produce consensus-based technology roadmaps to guide cooperative, pre-competitive research and workforce development efforts.
Power electronics are the application of solid-state electronics for the control and conversion of electric power. This includes rectifiers, inverters and converters, as well as the drive and control electronics. PEIC’s primary focus is on applications related to transportation, renewables, and energy efficiency.
“As an organization, PEIC serves an essential function within the power electronics industry,” said NextEnergy president and CEO Jean Redfield. “This award will allow both PEIC and NextEnergy to leverage the collective expertise of PEIC member organizations, among other industry stakeholders, to address opportunities for industry growth.”
Other nations throughout the world have made significant investments to advance power electronics technologies and products that will have a lasting impact on a wide variety of markets and industries, including transportation, consumer electronics, energy storage, and renewable energy. The U.S. currently trails other nations in developing the ecosystem necessary to support competitive manufacturing of power electronics for the fast‐growing global market.
The PEIC will address challenges facing the industry by:
* Convening the U.S. power electronics industry to assess and document the industry’s current status and competitive position;
* Analyzing how technology and policy drivers could provide opportunity for U.S. leadership in power electronics innovation and manufacturing; and
* Seeking consensus on detailed technology, product, and policy roadmaps that will enable industry stakeholders to cooperate on pre‐competitive research and on achieving common market, policy, and workforce development goals
Said PEIC board president Mark Bellinger: “The AMTech program will enable PEIC to conduct a thorough analysis of
industry supply and value chains, ultimately strengthening the domestic power electronics ecosystem.”
As a sub recipient of the award, NextEnergy will conduct the research and analysis required to develop detailed industry roadmaps.
Added NextEnergy vice president for industry and venture development Dan Radomski: “NextEnergy played a key role in
helping launch the PEIC organization as well as initiating early U.S. competitiveness studies and mobilizing industry to address key domestic challenges. The work completed through this program will address obstacles the U.S. power electronics industry currently faces in advanced manufacturing and innovation, and has the potential to make a significant impact on the economy in the U.S. and in Michigan.”
More at www.nextenergy.org or www.peic-us.org.