Meet Parag Upadhyay, Principal R&D Scientist

“I am proud that the paper I have created responds to customer concerns about overheating of the field transformers and addresses complains about the transformer loss of life under renewable integrations. Through the solutions presented in this paper, factory designers will have opportunity to design a smart transformer customized for renewable integration

Q: What is your paper’s societal impact?

The usage of renewable energy increasing to meet future energy demand. Transformers are the backbone of the grid system and renewable energy is injected to the grid through these transformers. Under certain reverse power flow conditions, transformer losses and heating are higher which then reduces the life of the transformer.

This paper answers two important questions, (a) does reverse power flow impact the performance of existing transformers in the grid? and (b) does It make sense to replace interface transformer using a customized design to minimize restrictions on reverse power flow?

Q: How will the solutions presented in the paper help in our drive towards a sustainable energy future?

Due to the highly unpredictable nature of such VRE sources, in many circumstances, the instantaneous power demand and supply do not always match, and insufficient energy storage capacity at the DER generating nodes lead to reverse power flow towards the grid. Having large capital investments, renewable developers would like to see maximum energy production achieved to minimize payback periods. I am planning to create a platform through which customers can find limitation of operation under renewable interaction for a standard distribution transformers. Therefore, customers can maximize the life of the asset with a limited reverse power flow. Alternatively, with increased demand of electricity, a customized solution can maximize the reverse power flow to meet the renewable generation targets. "

Parag’s paper, PS1, SC A2-101 Distributed Energy Resources (DERs): Impact of Reverse Power Flow on Transformer, was named ‘Best Paper’ in Preferential Subject 1 Category. In his paper, Parag’s answers potential questions and provides awareness about the impact of reverse power flow on transformers—key issues which have not been addressed before.