With a few exceptions all the power coming from renewable energy sources needs to be converted by power electronics and electromechanical generators to electricity, usually 50 or 60 Hz ac.  Renewable energy generation is evolving at rapid pace, for example the price of PV panels has dropped significantly and the economics of scale favour larger wind turbines. Conversion technology needs to keep up and new principles of renewable energy conversion may open up new opportunities. In the presentation three emerging technologies will be discussed:

• Wind turbine generator concepts with simplified mechanics; direct drive concentrated winding designs, flexible wind turbine designs and brushless DFIG.
• Electrostatic actuators for wind and wave energy generation.

Application of GaN devices in PV converters and PV-cell integrated converters.

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 100 journal and transactions papers, 300 conference papers and 15 patents, and was awarded 15 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- 4), PELS President (2015-6)

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).