electricity

Building tools to protect America’s power grid

By August Schiess, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign PULLMAN, Wash. – When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in late September, it devastated the island’s power grid — and estimates suggest residents won’t have full power again until mid-December.

New device could turn heat energy into a viable fuel source

By Will Ferguson, College of Arts and Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – A new device being developed by Washington State University physicist Yi Gu could one day turn the heat generated by a wide array of electronics into a usable fuel source.

WSU researchers receive $2.3M to improve U.S. power grid design

By Erik Gomez, intern, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University researchers have received a $2.3 million Department of Energy grant to more efficiently distribute power and better manage outages for the U.S. electric power grid.

WSU to lead $30M international partnership to advance power grid

PULLMAN, Wash. – WSU will lead a nationwide consortium of U.S. universities and industry partners in a five-year, $30 million joint research project with India to advance the development of the power grid in both countries.

Video: Accidental discovery dramatically improves conductivity

PULLMAN, Wash. – Quite by accident, Washington State University researchers have achieved a 400-fold increase in the electrical conductivity of a crystal simply by exposing it to light. The effect, which lasted for days after the light was turned off, could dramatically improve the performance of devices like computer chips.

Microbes generate electricity in Dana Hall outreach

    PULLMAN, Wash. – In a hallway in a building at the engineering end of campus, a string of small, red LED lights blink unobtrusively, powered by a bucket of muddy water.   Dedicated crews of microscopic bacteria in the mud generate electricity by doing what bacteria do best: eating.   “The microbes eat […]

Pumping electricity into grid pays 15 cents a kilowatt-hour

Solar pioneers who have been feeding electricity into the Northwest power grid have until July 31 to apply for retroactive incentives under the state’s newest alternative-energy law. The law provides a payment of 15 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity that backyard producers have sent into the grid. “This finally makes solar a viable investment […]