A group of Washington State U. researchers recently received $2.5 million from the Department of Energy to develop courses to train engineers in clean energy and the smart electric power grid. Some of the courses should be available by next spring.

Behrooz Shirazi and others in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science submitted a proposal for the grant last October. The grant is part of about $100 million in stimulus funds that are going toward green energy.

“One of the national priorities set by President (Barack) Obama is improvement in renewable and clean technology and clean energy, particularly with respect to electric power,” Shirazi said.

In the next three years, WSU will begin offering a variety of online courses related to producing solar energy, wind energy and biofuels.

There also will be courses on installing and maintaining the smart grid, a computer system that will increase efficiency and integrate new energy sources.

Carl Hauser, an associate professor in computer science, says the courses are meant to address a shortage of engineers in new energy industry.

“Utilities over the next few years are required to increase the amount of renewable energy that they’re selling to a fairly significant percentage,” he said. “This kind of training and education that we will be doing as part of this program will provide the people they will need to meet that obligation.” In the Pacific Northwest, most energy comes from fossil fuels or hydroelectric dams, he said. As power companies move toward renewable energy sources, they will also have to modify the power grid.

Because windmills and solar panels do not provide a constant stream of energy, computer systems will be necessary to monitor and effectively respond to changing weather conditions.

Anjan Bose, Regents professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will be one of the people designing the new courses.

“As these new technologies go in, we have to have the people trained so that they can install the smart grid and operate the smart grid,” he said.

The training should lead to more renewable energy, less power outages and higher efficiency, he said.

The new courses will all be under the Distance Degree Program, Bose said. People already working in the industry can take them while working toward their master’s degrees, and students on campus can take them as well.

“We are moving towards renewable energy. In our area … I think we have doubled our wind energy in the last two years,” he said. “As a percentage of the total amount of electricity produced, it is still a small percentage.”