New energy conversion system will bridge gap between renewable energy and power grid

IMAGE: Wenyuan Li and Xingbo Liu are creating a new energy conversion system that has the potential to bridge renewable energy sources into the existing United States energy infrastructure.
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Credit: WVU
Engineers at West Virginia University are creating a new energy conversion system that has the potential to bridge renewable energy sources into the existing United States energy infrastructure.
As solar and wind energy become increasingly necessary to combat climate change, new energy conversion and storage technologies will be needed to maintain stability across the power grid.
“People talk a lot about a cleaner future and vow to replace carbon-based energy systems with renewables,” said Wenyuan Li, research assistant professor in the Statler College. “Attention has been focused on solar panels and wind turbines, but technology like this is the very throttle that decides how much renewables can eventually penetrate to the power grid and can be put