Yue Cao
Oregon State University, OR·Engineering·Early-career
Power grids that run largely on renewable energy, along with electric cars and electric aircraft, need energy storage to smooth out fast swings in power. "Real" storage, such as batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells, is each limited in how much energy it holds or how quickly it can deliver power.
- Fields
Engineering
- Topics
energy storage
power electronics
batteries
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Develop a universal electrical model of real and virtual energy storage, based on a multi-timescale equivalent impedance network, to select storage that matches the power needs at each timescale.
- Co-design the power electronic converters that connect batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells and flexible thermal loads, using multi-objective optimization and reliability analysis to extend system lifetime.
- Apply intelligent search, deep reinforcement learning and data-driven control to dynamic energy management, and validate the framework on a hardware testbed.
More about the research
"Virtual" storage comes from flexibly adjusting loads like building heating and cooling (HVAC) systems or water heaters, which act as energy buffers. Today, designers usually pick storage types by rule of thumb and then combine separate models of each one. This misses the system-level picture. The project proposes a top-down approach built on one universal electrical model that covers real storage, virtual storage and the power electronics that connect them.
Why it matters
A unified design method could help utilities, building operators and makers of electric vehicles and aircraft choose the best mix of batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells and flexible loads. The goal is systems that are more resilient, simpler to manage and longer-lasting. This could support grids that rely heavily on renewable energy and wider electrification of transportation.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Yang Weng
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Engineering·Early-career
Develop reduced-order models of data-center power electronics showing how converters, control loops and energy storage shape the load and impedance seen by the electric grid.
Jiangfeng Zhang
Clemson University, SC·Engineering
Model electric vehicle fast-charging station management as a multi-objective optimization over charging protocols, power allocation, pricing and grid interaction, constrained by battery degradation, market prices, solar output, vehicle-to-grid service and demand response.
Jan Kleissl
University of California-San Diego, CA·Engineering
Build DERConnect, a remote-access testbed that integrates solar panels, battery storage, electric vehicles, wind and solar emulators, and controllable building lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems.
The school
Oregon State University: 29 labs on PI Pages, $372M a year on research, 238 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.