UNLOCKING LASTING TRANSFORMATIVE RESILIENCY ADVANCES BY FASTER ACTUATION OF POWER SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES (ULTRAFAST) | DE FOA 0002998

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002998

The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) grant opportunity titled Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of Power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST), FOA number DE-FOA-0002998, is aimed at pushing power semiconductor devices and power modules to operate and respond far faster than what is common today, with the end goal of improving resilience, reliability, and controllability across the electric grid and other high-power electrical systems. The basic motivation is that power electronics have become the dominant interface for modern energy systems, enabling renewables, electrified transportation, and efficient power conversion, but this shift also changes grid dynamics. As more of the grid is mediated by fast electronic interfaces rather than slower rotating machines, stability and reliability challenges become harder, and traditional protection and control approaches can fall short. ULTRAFAST is intended to create technology leaps that let the grid sense, decide, and actuate power flow and protection actions much more quickly and robustly, including under faults and rapidly changing conditions.

ARPA-E frames this program around its broader mission: funding applied research and development that is high-risk, high-reward, and capable of creating new "learning curves" rather than incremental improvements along established roadmaps. In practical terms, the program is not looking for routine device optimization; it is looking for disruptive advances in materials, device structures, module architectures, and actuation methods that would unlock new levels of performance and, if successful, plausibly scale toward competitive manufacturing and widespread deployment. While the grid is a central focus, ARPA-E explicitly calls out that the same breakthroughs could benefit other complex power distribution environments that already depend on dense networks of converters, such as electric vehicles, ships, aircraft (including all-electric aviation concepts), data centers, and electrified buildings.

Technically, ULTRAFAST targets improvements across silicon (Si), wide bandgap (WBG), and ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor technologies, paired with significantly improved actuation or triggering methods. The emphasis is on semiconductor device and module-level advances that enable faster switching and/or faster triggering at higher current and higher voltage. This matters because faster actuation can improve both normal operation (tighter, higher-bandwidth control of power converters) and abnormal operation (ultra-fast protective actions during faults), which directly ties to resilience and reliability. At the same time, the FOA recognizes that pushing switching speed and slew rates upward can create real system-level constraints, especially electromagnetic interference (EMI), so proposed solutions are expected to confront those practical integration issues rather than ignoring them.

The FOA describes three main technical categories of interest. Category 1 focuses on protection-oriented device and/or module technologies that can perform bypass, shunt, or interrupt functions at high current and voltage with extremely fast reaction times, on the order of nanoseconds, and with as low a level of integration as possible. The idea is to enable protection actions that happen fast enough to limit damage, prevent cascading failures, and improve survivability of critical equipment, potentially redefining how protection is implemented at power-electronic interfaces. Category 2 focuses on devices and/or modules that support efficient, high-power, high-speed power conversion by operating at higher switching frequencies, generally in the range of 1 kHz to 100 kHz depending on power level, in order to increase the large-signal bandwidth of converters used in grid applications. This is tied to better dynamic control of power flow and improved grid support functions. Category 3 includes complementary enabling technologies that make the first two categories viable in real hardware, such as wireless sensing of voltage and current, high-density packaging approaches that integrate wireless actuation and device/module-level protection, power-cell-level passive components like capacitors and inductors suited to high-speed operation, and thermal management strategies capable of handling the heat flux and transient conditions associated with ultra-fast switching and protection events.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary DOE opportunity administered by ARPA-E, with funding instruments including cooperative agreements, grants, and potentially other mechanisms depending on the project. The opportunity is open to a broad set of eligible applicants (unrestricted, subject to any clarifications in the FOA). The Grants.gov listing notes an award ceiling of $1,000,000 and an expectation of around 20 awards (as posted in the source summary). The original posting indicates a creation date of February 24, 2023 and an original closing date of March 28, 2023, which is important for anyone looking at this historically or trying to track whether a related follow-on or reopened solicitation exists.

The application process is also very specific: applicants are expected to obtain the full FOA from the ARPA-E FOA site and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE, not through email or other submission paths. ARPA-E states it will not review or consider concept papers submitted by other means. The announcement provides support channels for technical issues with eXCHANGE (ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov) and a contracting officer email for FOA questions not covered by the FAQ (ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov), with the instruction to include the FOA name and number in the subject line. Overall, ULTRAFAST is positioned as a focused push to make power semiconductor devices and their supporting module and sensing ecosystems respond dramatically faster, enabling better grid control and protection in a future where power electronics are everywhere and system stability increasingly depends on how quickly those interfaces can safely and intelligently act.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the opportunity zone benefits, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "UNLOCKING LASTING TRANSFORMATIVE RESILIENCY ADVANCES BY FASTER ACTUATION OF POWER SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES (ULTRAFAST)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 24, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 28, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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