West Virginia University’s Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering received a grant for $159,914 from Milsoft,a SmartGrid software engineering company, to improve utility distribution systems.

The project aims to change the way power industries currently operate distribution systems using conventional models of data and power flow solutions. WVU researchers will develop software solutions to existing utility needs related to the planning and operation of distribution systems, the network that carries electricity from the utility company’s transmission system to consumers. The Milsoft grant will also help the investigators obtain additional grants from government agencies like the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy.

“Accurate and fast power flow solutions are stepping stones for real time analysis of distribution systems,” said Dr. Sarika Khushalani-Solanki, an assistant professor in CSEE and the principal investigator of the project. “The industry is highly in need of these solutions.”

The investigators will use a variety of engineering software, including Milsoft’s Windmil for Distribution Power Flow, and compare and contrast the results provided by each of them. The Milsoft project will help evaluate a distribution modeling tool and will develop other module interfaces.

“Distribution power flow solutions will be validated with the actual measurements from the analog power simulator, which can have multiple configurations and multiple solutions”” said Dr. Jignesh Solanki, an assistant research professor in CSEE and the co-principal investigator of the project. The goal is also to propose a better solution, model or approach for future SmartGrid related developments.

The CSEE department is housed in WVU’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

-WVU-

cam/4/04/11

Check http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/ daily for the latest news from the University. Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.

CONTACT: Mary Dillon, CEMR
(304) 293-4086
mary.dillon@mail.wvu.edu