• Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Director, Renewable Energy and Advanced Power Electronics Laboratory (REAPER)
  • Affiliated Faculty, Multidisciplinary Engineering
Robert S. Balog

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – 2006
  • M.S.E.E., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – 2002
  • B.S.E.E., Rutgers University – 1996

Research Interests

    • Advanced power electronics systems and controls solar photovoltaic and electrical energy storage power systems
    • Photovoltaic balance of systems (BOS)
    • Non-planar photovoltaic systems and building-integrated photovoltaics (BiPV)
    • Techno-economic optimization of renewable resource-based energy systems
    • Microgrids and distributed DC power systems
    • Power quality enhancement in AC electrical distribution systems
    • Model predicative control of power electronic systems
    • Power electronics for solid state lighting (LED)
    • Arc fault detection in photovoltaic, battery, and DC system

Certifications & Memberships

  • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI)
  • Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • Licensed Professional Engineer (PE), Texas
  • Licensed Professional Engineer (PE), Illinois

Awards & Honors

  • Co-Director, National Science Foundation Industry / University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC) on Next Generation Photovoltaics (NGPV)
  • Assistant Director, Grid-Edge Modernization, Smart Grid Center of Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
  • Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Power Electronics Society – 2020-2021
  • Patent and Innovation Award, Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization’s – 2017
  • Technical Program Chair, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) – 2016
  • Distinguished Engineer Award, Rutgers College of Engineering – 2011
  • Hungarian Academy of Sciences, External Public Body – 2011

Selected Publications

  • R.S. Balog, M. Shadmand, M. Metry, “The Load as a Controlled Energy Asset in DC Microgrids,” in DC Distribution Systems and Microgrids, London, United Kingdom: The Institute of Engineering and Technology, 2018.
  • A. Kwasinski, W. Weaver, and R. S. Balog, Microgrids and other Local Area Power and Energy Systems, Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
  • R. S. Balog and A. Davoudi, "Batteries, Battery Management and Battery Charging Technology," in Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, vol. 2, R. A. Meyers, Ed.: Springer Verlag, 2012, pp. 671-706.