When we think of power, we already remember the battle of Thomas Edison vs Nikola Tesla in the 1880s. Edison was the originator of the one directional current or Direct Current (DC) while Tesla was the originator of the Alternative Current (AC). Looking at what we use today, it is clear that Tesla has won the battle since DC is “barely used”
This battle was mainly won because of the fact that AC can be produced in large scale, can easily be reduced as low voltage or increased as high voltage using transformers. AC can be transported from a station to very long distances while DC cannot travel more than a mile due to high losses in long distance transportation. AC is also great for high power devices and appliances such as HVAC units.
On the other side, DC has a power factor of 1 which means there is no apparent power in DC systems. DC power can easily be stored and it cost less to produce DC power.
If we look closer, almost all the household equipment runs with DC. In fact, while houses are fed with AC, most of the devices that we use transform that AC power to DC. Also, with the new era of renewable energies such as solar power where each household can have its own power source shouldn’t we think about going back to DC? Plus the idea is to save power bills and consume less electricity.
There is no right answer to this question. However, if the idea is to consume less electricity why don’t we have houses running DC via their own DC power sources such as solar system, wind power, etc. with battery backup? Plus, there is DC water heater, air conditioner units, etc. in the market nowadays. We could just leave AC to commercial buildings, industries, users with very high voltage equipment.
Will this idea create a new battle against power companies which are all about getting revenue from power bills?
Schauber De Sahi, Project Manager Execution at Schneider Electric | Writer | Shareholder at Domotech Pro