Ryan Kennedy started his profession as an electrician, and after spending six years within the energy distribution trade, he went to varsity to develop into knowledgeable engineer. Throughout his school days and shortly after that, Kennedy labored on constructing designs, which included amenities like knowledge facilities with giant energy techniques.
That’s when he developed this concept that the longer term could be electrified greater than beforehand seen, which meant that many issues needed to change on the grid in addition to on {the electrical} consumption aspect. Since 2003, Kennedy began noticing that whereas we put a giant emphasis on the grid stuff, energy consumption defines every part.
“On the finish of the day, billions of factors of consumption outline the grid wants,” he added. “The concept was that if consumption goes to be an important factor of the system, then safety, visibility, and management are tremendous essential on the factors of consumption.” So, Kennedy began eager about a unified methodology for doing all that.
The view was that every one circuits want safety, visibility, and management whether or not it’s a tool charger or a warmth, air flow, and air con (HVAC) system. And if there’s one factor in entrance of every part that consumes vitality, it’s the circuit breaker. “It’s common throughout each trade, together with residential and industrial energy techniques,” Kennedy stated.
So, the thought was that as a substitute of spending cash on HVAC management or industrial management techniques, you purchase circuit breakers that may do these items. “You are able to do it utilizing a classy software program platform, however you continue to want {hardware} to try this,” Kennedy added.
For him, that meant that there should be a brand new solid-state circuit breaker, using semiconductors as a substitute of mechanics to manage the vitality move. There are totally different present scores in electrical techniques as a result of the physics of mechanical breakers and management techniques wildly change relying on which atmosphere you’re in to be fault tolerant. “Semiconductors do fairly good in fault tolerance.”
Determine 1 From an electrician to CEO of an influence electronics firm, Kennedy’s journey in energy techniques encompasses 28 years. Supply: Atom Energy
Stable-state circuit breakers
After co-founding Atom Energy in 2014, Kennedy and his group got down to commercialize solid-state circuit breaker expertise. It was definitely not a brand new concept; it’s been experimented with for not less than 4 many years. “However our view was that the world wants a common platform for defense, visibility, and management on the fringe of the facility grid.”
“In the event you have a look at the world’s vitality, between 85% to 90% is consumed from 100-A or decrease circuits,” he stated. “So, we considered solid-state circuit breaker as much as three-phase and 100 A as our flagship expertise product.” Kennedy added that it was extra of expertise growth that may be utilized to all markets in some unspecified time in the future.
By 2019, Atom Energy turned the primary firm to commercialize solid-state circuit breakers. It additionally acquired the primary UL itemizing for solid-state circuit breakers. However Kennedy and his groups additionally acknowledged that it was a brand new product class. “It was chaotic at first, after which we realized that we’ve to concentrate on one trade, not less than in the interim.”
So, in 2021, Atom Energy determined to concentrate on a significant ache level out there: electrical car (EV) charging. “We’ve changed the complexity of the standard EV chargers with the software-defined digital circuit breaker, pairing it with application-based {hardware},” Kennedy stated.
Determine 2 The primary UL-listed industrial solid-state digital circuit breaker facilitates centralized charging on the panel degree, offering each circuit safety and EV charging. Supply: Atom Energy
Atom Energy manufactures the circuit breaker together with the board the place it sits and the peripheral tools. The corporate additionally manufactures silicon carbide (SiC) modules that characteristic avalanche safety, management techniques, and present sensing.
“Not like the standard mechanical breaker, which is a single-purpose system, we will use SiC expertise to bridge the move of vitality, each from circuit safety and management standpoints,” Kennedy stated. “With SiC switching, we will obtain every part in a single field.”
A key factor right here is that UL nonetheless requires that when a breaker journeys, it’s galvanically remoted. Right here, SiC does the work as galvanic connections by no means break underneath load.
Charging for EV fleets
Atom Energy has lately introduced to produce solid-state breaker EV charging options to Inovis Power, an vitality companies firm, which is constructing charging infrastructure for Mecklenburg Paint Firm to transition its fleet to EVs by 2025. The challenge was launched in July 2023.
Determine 3 Digital circuit breaker expertise permits EVs to cost from a centralized panel. Supply: Inovis Power
Inovis will set up solid-state digital circuit breakers to cost autos from a centralized panel, eliminating the necessity for costly utility upgrades. In any other case, conventional chargers necessitate a utility transformer improve, thereby rising prices and challenge timeline.
The system permits the set up of eight charging ports utilizing the prevailing transformer capability. Furthermore, the put in EV charging ports will likely be absolutely networked for safe on-premise and cloud-based asset and energy administration. That’s additionally a step nearer to the premise of dynamic energy administration.
Atom Energy is headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina.
Associated Content material
