News

DC Building Power Asia 2012 to be Hosted in Shanghai, Call for Papers Issued

June 06, 2012 by Jeff Shepard

An Announcement and Call for Papers has been issued for the Fourth-Annual DC Building Power Asia conference (DCBPA ’12) to be held in December in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. Building on the success of last year’s event, this focused two day conference will attract an international audience to discuss high-voltage and low-voltage dc distribution in facilities such as data centers, telecommunications facilities, commercial and industrial buildings and residences. The theme will be: "Integrating Buildings with the Smart Grid."

"We are excited about the expanded scope of this year’s event," stated Jeff Shepard, President of Darnell Group. "We have an expanded Advisory Committee being co-chaired by Keiichi Hirose, Senior Research Engineer of NTT Facilities, Hideo Miyazawa, Executive Director Fujitsu Component Ltd. and Dr. Pengju Kang, Director, GE (China) Global Research. This year’s event will also feature a tour of a working DC MicroGrid lab at GE Research," Shepard concluded.

A convergence of technologies is occurring that will change how buildings are powered and how building energy use is managed. These technologies include distributed generation and storage resources; wireless building automation systems, demand-side management of building energy use by utilities; and more. Darnell’s fourth-annual DCBPA will attract an international audience to Shanghai to discuss high-voltage and low-voltage dc power distribution in buildings (including commercial and industrial buildings, data centers, telecommunications facilities, residences, and so on) and how those new dc-based power architectures will drive increased efficiency, improve sustainability and support the emerging Smart Grid. According to recent studies, the use of dc power can be ten-times more reliable and significantly more efficient compared with today’s ac-powered buildings.

The use of dc distribution can complement other trends in building power including the growth of ’green’ energy sources, use of wireless building automation systems, demand side management, the implementation of high-efficiency lighting, and more. It can also reduce construction and operating costs, improve flexibility and enhance sustainability. DCBPA ’12 will consider all aspects of building power including high-voltage and low-voltage dc distribution, hybrid ac and dc distribution architectures, and dc microgrids. Examples of the topics to be addressed at DCBPA ’12 include: Selection of the optimal dc distribution voltage; Integration of distributed generation resources; DC lighting systems; DC HVAC and other building systems; DC appliances; Building automation and controls; DC microgrids; Combined heat and power; Advanced components and hardware; Safety considerations; Standardization issues; Hybrid ac and dc power distribution architectures; Implementation of demand-side management; Implications for power quality; and more.

Submissions are being sought in three areas: 1) Case Studies/Industry Examples: outstanding examples of recent applications of dc power distribution or hybrid ac and dc power distribution in commercial, industrial, government, and residential buildings, or in critical facilities such as data centers, including field tests as well as full production systems. 2) Implementation and Operational Process: return on investment scenarios and analysis of benefits for implementation of new and improved dc power distribution technologies, with special focus on the role of power electronics and applications systems; directions and developments in utility interface and integration; needed and/or anticipated changes in regulatory environments. 3) Technology Developments: projections and forecasts for changes in core power electronic, distributed generation, and building automation technologies, including new designs/implementations, new applications and new methods for implementing solutions.

The DCBPA ’12 web site is here.

More news and information regarding the latest developments in Smart Grid electronics can be found at Darnell’s SmartGridElectronics.Net.