4 ms·
You probably wouldn't want to use copper anyway. Power lines in the US tend to be aluminum. It's cheaper and lighter, even though it requires a larger gauge.
by throwaway1037 11y ago
You probably wouldn't want to use copper anyway. Power lines in the US tend to be aluminum. It's cheaper and lighter, even though it requires a larger gauge.
- jacquesm 11y agoThe problem with aluminum for conduction is that (1) it does not like to be clamped down (it tends to back away from the screw terminals so you will have to re-tighten them or use a different clamping mechanism) and (2) it tends to oxidize so even a slight loss of contact will turn into a much higher resistance on the joint. Copper doesn't have these draw-backs which is why it is used a lot more on the 'low power' side of things. But for the transmission lines the reduced weight more than offsets all the other issues, those are very well taken care of connections with resistances in the milli-Ohms, an expensive connector is not an issue when it comes to power infrastructure.