The University of Pittsburgh’s Energy GRID Institute, newly established to leverage public and private partnerships with state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities, is a comprehensive international solution center for the entire electric power industry – located right here in Pittsburgh.In its initial design phase, the laboratory will reflect advancement in modern power systems, integrating distributed generation sources into AC (13.8 kV, 4.16 kV, 480 V, 208 V) and DC (1.5 kV, 380 V) microgrids in order to demonstrate and study novel power products, as well as monitoring, control and protection systems.

The capability will exist to perform AC or DC system studies, test equipment as an independent third party, and enable power electronic design, rapid prototyping, and testing up to 13.8 kV. The configurability of the system allows it to be fluidly changed to reflect a vast variety of grid layouts and conditions. The result is a facility that will be uniquely capable of integrating education, training, demonstration, and testing, as well as research and development at the cutting edge of the power systems and power electronics industries, thus, providing a drive towards greater collaboration with utilities, equipment vendors, and other universities. Expected dedication of the facility is spring 2018.

View more information on the labs themselves.