AC power

The electricity that runs the Laboratory’s experiments and facilities. “AC” stands for the alternating current that comes from large power stations. The term compares with “DC,” for “direct current,” which comes from sources like batteries.

Protecting the power grid: Advanced plasma switch can make the grid more efficient for long-distance transmission

Inside your home and office, low-voltage alternating current (AC) powers the lights, computers and electronic devices for everyday use. But when the electricity comes from remote long-distance sources such as hydro-power or solar generating plants, transporting it as direct current (DC) is more efficient — and converting it back to AC current requires bulky and expensive switches. Now the General Electric (GE) company, with assistance from scientists at the U.S.

PPPL engineers design and build state-of-the-art controller for AC to DC converter that manages plasma in upgraded fusion machine

The electric current that powers fusion experiments requires superb control. Without it, the magnetic coils the current drives cannot contain and shape the plasma that fuels experiments in doughnut-shaped tokamaks correctly.

Panel ensures safe operation of the $94 million NSTX Upgrade

Inspecting what will soon become the world's most powerful spherical fusion facility

PPPL lends General Electric a hand in developing an advanced power switch

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are assisting General Electric Co. in developing an electrical switch that could help lower utility bills. The advanced switch “could contribute to a smarter, more advanced, more reliable, and more secure electric grid,” according to the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which is funding the GE project.

A Collaborative National Center for Fusion & Plasma Research

AC power

Protecting the power grid: Advanced plasma switch can make the grid more efficient for long-distance transmission

PPPL engineers design and build state-of-the-art controller for AC to DC converter that manages plasma in upgraded fusion machine

Panel ensures safe operation of the $94 million NSTX Upgrade

PPPL lends General Electric a hand in developing an advanced power switch

Offshore Wind and Vehicle to Grid Power

PPPL and ITER: Lab teams support the world’s largest fusion experiment with leading-edge ideas and design

"Airborne Wind Energy - Harnessing a Vast, Untapped Renewable Energy Source"

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AC power