The attention of power electronics in the last 20 years has moved significantly towards the electric grid. Power electronics has been transformed from being a simple actuator of electrical machine control in electric drives, to an indispensable power conditioning unit to enable integration of renewable energies in the electric grid and in general to make it more flexible and decentralized. This presentation aims at reviewing power electronics and its control in three different fields: multi-MW wind turbine systems, presently the most cost-effective one; few-kW photovoltaic systems, the near future most spread one; and Smart Transformer for distribution systems, the most futuristic and challenging one.  The lecture will analyze the grid-tied power electronics solutions for the above mentioned applications, considering efficiency, reliability and capability to conditioning power flow while limiting harmonics and resonances.

Marco Liserre received the MSc and PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the Bari Polytechnic, respectively in 1998 and 2002. From 2004 he was Assistant Professor, and from 2012 Associate Professor at Bari Polytechnic. He is Professor in reliable power electronics at Aalborg University (Denmark). He has published 162 technical papers (40 of them in international peer-reviewed journals, of which 19 in the last five years 2007-2011), 3 chapters of a book and a book (Grid Converters for Photovoltaic and Wind Power Systems, ISBN-10: 0-470-05751-3 – IEEE-Wiley, also translated in Chinese). These works have received more than 5000 citations. He has been visiting Professor at Alcala de Henares University (Spain) and at Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany, as Mercator professor.

Dr. Jay Lee is Ohio Eminent Scholar, L.W. Scott Alter Chair Professor, and Distinguished Univ. Professor at the Univ. of Cincinnati and is founding director of National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) on Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS www.imscenter.net ) which is a multi-campus NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center which consists of the Univ. of Cincinnati (lead institution), the Univ. of Michigan, Missouri Univ. of S&T, and the Univ. of Texas-Austin. Since its inception in 2001, the Center has been supported by over 75 global companies including P&G, GE Aviation, Eaton, National Instruments, Boeing, Caterpillar, Siemens, Chevron, Honeywell, Parker Hannifin, Spirit AeroSystems, Ingersoll Rand, Goodyear, Intel, Applied Materials, Army Research Lab., Automated Precision Inc (API), Forcam (Germany), Alstom (France), ITRI (Taiwan), Omron (Japan), Nissan (Japan), Delta Electronics (Taiwan), HIWIN (Taiwan), PMC (Taiwan), III (Taiwan), Shaanxi Auto Group (China), Tekniker (Spain), FMTC (Belgium), Kistler (Switzerland), etc. His current research focuses on intelligent prognostics and predictive analytics, and dominant innovation for smart product and service systems.
He serves as honorary professor and visiting professor for a number of institutions including Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ., City Univ. of Hong Kong, Cranfield Univ. in UK, Lulea Univ. of Technology in Sweden, Hong Kong PolyU., Xian Jiao Tong Univ. and Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in China.
He also serves as advisor to a number of global organizations, including a member of the Manufacturing Executive Leadership Board of Governors, Scientific Advisory Board of Flanders' MECHATRONICS Technology Centre (FMTC) in Leuven, Belgium, etc. In addition, he serves as editors and associate editor for a number of journals including IEEE Transaction on Industrial Informatics, Int. Journal on Prognostics & Health Management (IJPHM), Int. Journal on Service Operations and Informatics, etc, Previously, he served as Director for Product Development and Manufacturing at United Technologies Research Center (UTRC), E. Hartford, CT as well as Program Directors for a number of programs at NSF during 1991-1998, including the Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) Program, the Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRCs) Program, and the Div. of Design, Manufacture, and Industrial Innovation. He also served as an advisory member for a number of institutions including, Johns Hopkins Univ., Cambridge Univ., etc.
He has authored/co-authored numerous highly influential articles and technical papers in the areas of machinery monitoring and prognostics, E-manufacturing, and intelligent maintenance systems. He has over 20 patents and trademarks. He is a frequently invited speaker and has delivered over 160 invited keynote and plenary speeches at major international conferences. He received a Distinguished Professor from the Univ. of Cincinnati in 2011. He is a Fellow of ASME, SME, as well as a founding fellow of International Society of Engineering Asset Management (ISEAM) and has received a number of awards including the most recent Prognostics Innovation Award at NI Week by National Instruments in 2012.

Ignacio J. Pérez-Arriaga was born in Madrid in 1948. He received the MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and the Electrical Engineer degree from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (UPC) in Madrid, Spain. He is Professor of Electrical Engineering at UPC, and founded its Institute for Research in Technology, which he served as Director for 11 years. He has also been Vice Rector for Research at UPC, and currently holds the BP Chair on Sustainable Development. rnDr. Pérez-Arriaga served for 5 years as Commissioner at the Spanish Electricity Regulatory Commission, and since November 2007 he has been an Independent Member of the Single Electricity Market Committee of Ireland. Member of the Board of Appeal of the Agency for the Coordination of Energy Regulators (ACER) in the EU. He is also Director of Energy Training at the Florence School of Regulation, European University Institute, Florence, Italy. He has worked in power system dynamic analysis, monitoring and diagnosis of power system devices and systems, intelligent computer design of industrial systems, planning and operation of electric generation and networks, regulation and restructuring of the power industry, and sustainability of national and global energy models. He has been a consultant for governmental agencies or electric utilities in more than 30 countries. Dr. Pérez-Arriaga is a Member of the Spanish National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the IEEE. He has published more than 200 papers and supervised more than 25 doctoral theses on the aforementioned topics. He is a permanent visiting professor at MIT (2008-present), at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR), where he teaches a graduate course on power system regulation, engineering and economics. He is a review editor of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Emil Levi received his Dipl. Ing. (1st Class Honours) degree in Electrical Power Engineering from the University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, in 1982 and his MSc and the PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1986 and 1990, respectively. From 1982 till 1992 he was with the Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Novi Sad. He joined Liverpool John Moores University, UK in May 1992, and was promoted to a Readership in 1995. Since September 2000 he is Professor of Electric Machines and Drives.
Emil serves as a Co-Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, as the Editor-in-Chief of the IET Electric Power Applications and as an Editor of the IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion. He was elevated to the IEEE Fellow grade in 2009, and is the recipient of the Cyril Veinott Award of the IEEE Power and Energy Society for 2009 and the Best Paper Award of the IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics for 2008. He served as the Technical Programme Chair of the EPE-PEMC ECCE 2012 conference.

Rosario Miceli received. the MSc and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Palermo, respectively in 1982 and 1987. From 1992 he was Assistant Professor and from 2003 Professor of Electrical Machines at University of Palermo, Italy. He is currently Professor of Electrical Machines, Power Electronics and Systems Automation with the Faculty of Engineering, University of Palermo. He is Personnel-in-Charge of the Sustainable Development and Energy Savings Laboratory of the Palermo Athenaeum. His main research interests include mathematical models of electrical machines, drive-system control, diagnostics, renewable energies, and energy management. He has published more than 150 technical papers, 1 chapter of a book and a book (Energy Management via Connected Household Appliances. vol. 1, p. 1-162, McGraw-Hill, ISBN:978-88-386-6676-6).

Braham Ferreira received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD in electrical engineering from the Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1980, 1982 and 1988 respectively.  In 1981 he was with the Institute of Power Electronics and Electric Drives, Technical University of Aachen, and worked as a systems engineer at ESD Pty (Ltd) from 1982-1985.  From 1986 thru 1997 he was at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Rand Afrikaans University, where he held the Carl and Emily Fuchs Chair of Power Electronics in later years.  Since 1998 he is holding the chair in Power electronics and Electrical Machines at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and served as head of the Department during 2006-2010. Dr. Ferreira is author and co-author of 90 journal and transactions papers, 300 conference papers and 13 patents, and was awarded 10 prize paper awards. He is a Fellow of the IEEE. 

IEEE Activies – South Africa Joint IAS/PELS/PES/IES chapter, chair (1993-6);  South Africa Section, chair (1991-2);  IEEE representative on SAIEE Council (1992-7); IEEE AFRICON ’96, technical program chairman; IAS Power Electronic Devices and Components committee, chair (1998-9); Benelux Joint IAS/PELS chapter, founding chair  (1999 – 2001); PELS Transactions, associate editor (2000-present); PELS AdCom member-at large( 1999-2005);  PELS treasurer (2005-2010); PELS Vice-President Meetings (2011- present).

Other activities – Dutch Representative on the Executive Council of the European Power Electronic Association [EPE](1999 – 2002, 2007-2010); Dutch working group CIGRE National Study Committee 14 [ application of power electronics in utilities], chair (1999 – 2002);  FEPPCON, technical program co-chair (2001, 2004, 2009); EPE Solar Energy Chapter, founding chair (2011).