Posted on 06/20/2026 2:48:23 AM PDT by knarf
I'm not smart enough to analyze this correctly, but most of my house is operating low voltage items . . . TV's, lap tops and a ton of smaller lights and stuff that all have those little black boxes for plugs.
Ah, yes. Old brain, new tricks. You get multi-phase through additional expense or a rotary converter. Its the 480 volt (and up) users who get three phases.
My electricity might come from various sources, a nuclear plant 80 miles north, a solar farm 30 miles east, a combined cycle natural gas power plant 15 miles north, and electricity Florida Power & Light buys from out-of-state utilities.
Transmitting electric power substantial distances is best done by AC as voltages can easily be multiplied and divided by transformers.
At high voltages, lots of power can be transmitted with low losses (as a percentage of total power transmitted) as losses are a function of electrical resistance (of power lines)*current.
Power is voltage*current. The higher the voltage, the less current is needed to transmit the same amount of power.
AC allows simple up voltage/low current for main transmission lines otherwise the copper wire would need to be so thick, the cables would break from the weight.
With DC if the cables were underground, you would need a power repeater station every 100 miles.
Of course if you are off the grid with a dedicated solar array, either would work
“multi-phase”
The utility generators are generally multi-phase as this allows their load to be better matched to turbine power.
A first bunch of residential users get one phase, a second bunch of residential users get another phase, and a third bunch of residential users get a third phase.
No such device. You'd just need power plants a mile apart, just like Edison did in NYC.
You get about 100 watts per square foot at the equator. That is a lot of square feet if you plan to process bauxite.
Now, when it comes to solar panels, they generate DC, unlike gas & steam turbines.
An FPL solar farm has to convert DC solar panel power to AC by electronic means for long-distance transmission.
Oops, three signals 120 degrees apart, not 60.
The Tesla Power pack currently being sold by the thousands is changing all that
Obviously something triggered the post. I suspect the poster got a new power bill with a noticeable rate increases. My power company sent out a notice last month saying summer electricity rates were going into effect.
“10,000 sq ft”
I suspect the majority of your AC cost problem comes through your roof.
I suggest having the underside of your roof sheathing foam insulated (provided your roof is in good shape).
I would then have a solar power ventilating fan installed and have large soffit vents installed in tree-shaded areas.
I installed solar in my house, but I only installed about twelve kilowatts. It paid for itself in about seven years but, whether you know it or not, using solar or not, using solar does not change the fact that there is a minimum fee Per month, in my case it’s twenty seven dollars just to be hooked up to the grid. I really wanted the solar for grid down protection. Since I’ve had the solar for the last 15 years We’ve lost the grid very little. I’m down so little that I could have gotten away with just using my generator. I totally did the installation myself, which made the total cost about half of what it would have been if I had hired it to be installed. I bought batteries directly from china and saved half the cost of batteries my batteries will run my house for well over a week if I do not use my large air conditioning unit. I installed mini splits to dramatically reduce my electric load but I only have a few rooms cooled with the mini splits, my bedroom and the kitchen dining area. I’ve probably lost about twenty percent of my capacity through the years. I’m considering getting newer solar panels and increasing my self reliance. I’ve gotten too old to install it myself however, if I get new panels I’ll have to pay to have them installed. I enjoyed engineering and installing my solar project. I enjoy having it, but it’s not for the faint of heart. I now have a plug in hybrid car. The vast majority of driving we do if we don’t take a long trip is done with electricity Which comes from the sun. That’s a very nice feature to have. We do have net metering in that we produce more than we need during the day, and it goes to the grid, at nighttime however, when there is no sun producing electricity for us we get that back at no extra charge. The utility companies don’t like the net metering and convinced the state lawmakers to cut it out however, we were grandfathered in so we get to keep using it.
At the expense of nasty windmills destroying the beauty of the land.
[DC->AC] “Inverter efficiency typically ranges from 85% to 95%, with high-quality pure sine wave inverters achieving 90% to 95% and advanced models exceeding 98%.”
Bing Copilot
inverters efficiency
“net metering”
The excess daytime solar power from houses could be used to charge EVs parked at workplaces and shopping centers.
To charge EVs at home typically means using fossil fuel-supplied electricity.
“Basically DC cannot travel far without being degraded by the very wiring that is carrying it. AC can travel thousands of miles.”
Actually the opposite is true, mostly due to inductance in the wire.
There are actually high tension power lines that run vast distances that are DC.
AC is easier to transport long distances because it is easy to increase the voltage to reduce current while still transporting the same power. It is easy to convert AC of high voltage to lower voltages. Converting DC to AC is much more difficult and less efficient.
Again, look at the back of it. There should be a label stating its voltage requirements.
I have a Surface 11, very low voltage.
Best answer!!
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