Join us on November 9 at 3:30 p.m. for this Sustainable Energy Seminar presentation by Mahima Gupta, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UW-Madison.

Abstract

The energy generation source centers are not always co-located with the population or industrial load centers. The questions arise over which electricity transmission system – direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) – is preferable. The late 19th century dispute, dubbed the War of Currents, declared AC technology victorious with transformer devices playing a pivotal role. Nevertheless, progress in technologies over the past century including the advent of practical solid-state devices in the 1960s and the ever-growing race to match energy demand with the energy supply, has motivated researchers to re-investigate this question particularly for long-distance transmission. This talk will begin with introducing the key technical differentiating factors between DC and AC transmission systems followed by case study discussions on trade-offs between the two systems for various scenarios. The DC transmission enabling power electronics-based energy conversion technologies will be discussed, and then the talk will be concluded by envisioning the pivotal role of DC transmission systems to efficiently meet the future energy demands.

Registration

This event is offered online only through Zoom Webinar. Registration is required through Zoom. Click here to register for this and all other webinars as part of the Sustainable Energy Seminar series in Fall 2026.