PRINCETON POWER ELECTRONICS RESEARCH LABPROF. MINJIE CHEN, DEP’T OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND ANDLINGER CENTER FOR ENERGY

AND THE ENVIRONMENT, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, (609) 258-7656, minjie@princeton.edu

POWERLAB OVERVIEWWe are a team of electrical engineers re-imagingthe power and energy systems of the future fromtheory to applications, inspiration to ideas, andfrom creation to innovation with a diversity ofthinking and a convergence of mission. We aimat making fundamental breakthroughs in powerelectronics to enable important and emerging ap-plications. Currently, our group focuses on nextgeneration power electronics solutions for the fol-lowing four important research areas:• Smarter power electronics at the grid edge• Smaller power electronics for robotics and EVs• Ultra-Efficient power electronics for informa-

tion and data systems• Design methods and software tools for power

electronics and system architectures

FUNDAMENTALSWe build electronic circuits and systems to man-age electrical energy and control power flow. Westudy device physics, circuit topology, electro-magnetics, control theory, and system architec-ture to push the state-of-the-art of power electron-ics. Specifically, we specialize in the followingthree research topics with leading expertise:

• High Frequency Power Electronics• Wide-Band-Gap Semiconductor Devices• Power Electronics Architectures

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Fig. 1: Devices, Circuits, Systems, and Architectures.

APPLICATIONS

Fig. 2: Power ElectronicsApplication Areas.

The future worldneeds smarter andmore efficient powerelectronics. Renew-able energy resourcescontribute about 10%of US total electricitygeneration. Data cen-ters consume morethan 90-B kWh ofelectricity a year inthe US. Advancedpower electronics is the enabling technology tomodernize the grid, upgrade the transportationsystems, and transform medical devices, robotics,and telecom and data communication systems.

TEAM AWARDS• IEEE PELS Prize Paper Awards (2017 & 2018)• First Place, Princeton Innovation Forum• APEC Outstanding Presentation Award

SELECTED PAST, ONGOING AND FUTURE RESEARCH PROJECTS1. Ultra efficient data center power delivery (DOE ARPA-E); 2. Ultra compact CPU/GPU/TPU powerSupply (Google/Intel); 3. Granular power electronics at the grid edge (NSF); 4. Andlinger distributedenergy and power testbed (Campus-as-Lab); 5. Wireless charging platform for drones (for undergrad).

CONTACT INFORMATIONWeb: www.princeton.edu/powerlabEmail: minjie@princeton.eduPhone: +1 (609) 258 7656

RENEWABLE ENERGY & GRIDAn electric grid with a large percentage of renew-able integration may become highly unstable ifnot coordinated correctly. Princeton PowerLab isdeveloping smarter power electronics which cansupport more than 50% of renewable energy onthe grid and can autonomously cluster into mi-crogrids to defend against natural hazards.

Princeton Nanogrid

Fig. 3: Granular Power Electronics at the Grid Edge.

INFORMATION & DATA SYSTEMSUS data centers currently consume more than 90billion kWh of electricity a year and produce asmuch carbon emission as the entire airline indus-try. The transmit of every bit of information con-sumes energy. High performance power electron-ics are needed for future data centers, artificial in-telligence (AI) hardware, and 5G communication.We are developing “full-stack" power electronicssolutions to power future telecom & data systems.

99% Efficient EPU 94%

Power

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Grid UPS Rack Motherboard

= 63%

95% 95% 87% 80% Grid to CPU Efficiency:

Grid EPU Power Brick

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95% 99% 94% Our Solution:

Energy Processing Unit (EPU)

Power Brick

Fig. 4: Power Electronics for Information Systems.

ROBOTICS & ELECTRIC VEHICLEHigh performance miniaturized power electron-ics are needed for future robotics and electric ve-hicles. We develop novel power delivery con-cepts and drive mechanisms with modular archi-tecture, wireless power transfer, flexible electron-ics, and multifunctional materials. We exploreexciting multi-disciplinary research opportunitiesfor extreme performance power electronics.

Fig. 5: Power Electronics for Robotics & Vehicles.

METHODOLOGIESAdvanced modeling and control methods areneeded to push the performance boundary ofpower electronics and to enable sophisticatedpower electronics system functions. PrincetonPowerLab is dedicated to develop “full-stack" de-sign methods and software tools to accelerate thedesign process of power electronics.

Fig. 6: LEGO Power Building Blocks.

Fig. 7: Control of Sophisticated Power Flow.

Fig. 8: Advanced Magnetics Modeling Methods.