With the global transition toward a more sustainable energy future, today’s power grids are encountering significant capacity challenges. These include the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) with intermittent characteristics, the rapid expansion of electric vehicles (EVs) requiring fast-charging infrastructure, and the substantial power demands of data centers driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
This presentation discusses hybrid AC/DC microgrid structures as a promising solution to addressing these challenges. It highlights how such microgrids facilitate the integration of DERs, support fast EV charging infrastructure, and enhance the efficiency and reliability of modern data centers. Key developments in structural designs, advanced converter technologies, energy management strategies, and grid support mechanisms will be highlighted, demonstrating how AC/DC microgrids contribute to a more adaptable and reliable power grid.
About Dr. Yunwei (Ryan) Li
Dr. Yunwei (Ryan) Li is currently a University of Alberta Senior Engineering Research Chair and Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Dr. Li received the Ph.D. degree from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr. Li was a Visiting Scholar with the Aalborg University, Denmark in 2005, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada 2006 - 2007. In 2007, he also worked at Rockwell Automation Canada before joined University of Alberta. His research interests focus on power electronics and their applications in distributed energy resources, microgrids, renewable energy, transportation electrification, and electric motor drives. His research has produced around 500 papers with over 29,000 citations.
Dr. Li is the Vice President for Products of IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) 2022-2026. He was the Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Letters 2019-2023. Dr. Li served as the general chair of IEEE Energy Conversion Congress of Exposition (ECCE) in 2020 for the first ever virtual version during the pandemic. Dr. Li received the Research Excellence Summit Award by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta in 2025, Nagamori Foundation Award in 2022, and the Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award from IEEE PELS in 2013. He is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering, and recognized as the Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher.
