Was Edison Right After All? Reconsidering DC Power

Jay OwenResource Efficiency

Was Edison Right After All? Reconsidering DC Power

<strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>AC</strong> vs DC voltage” src=”http://theenergycollective.com/sites/theenergycollective.com/files/imagepicker/346316/AC%20vs%20DC%20voltage.jpg” width=”500″ height=”333″ /></p>
<p><strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>Perhaps Thomas Edison</strong> was right after all. As <strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>new technology</strong> develops, it’s <strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>time</strong> to ask the question: should be using direct current (DC) instead of alternating current (AC) power?</p>
<p>Let’s review how we ended up in an AC-powered world. The preference for <strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>AC</strong> stemmed from the <strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>desire</strong> to transport large amounts of power from central station power <strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>plants</strong> to distant load centers over <strong class='StrictlyAutoTagBold'>transmission lines</strong> at very high voltages to reduce <a style=ohmic losses. Even though DC has lower ohmic losses than AC, the transformers necessary to convert relatively low voltage generation to high voltage transmission require alternating current. In contrast, DC power electronics components to accomplish the same task were first unavailable, then prohibitively expensive.

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