>Question: Why not go to 96V? >and the semiconductor switches probably don't care all that much Yes, actually they do. Power MOSFETs are usually in the 30-60V

>Question: Why not go to 96V? >and the semiconductor switches probably don't care all that much Yes, actually they do. Power MOSFETs are usually in the 30-60V range. When you go higher than that, costs go way up and you generally need to switch to IGBTs. MOSFETs capable of switching 30V loads at extremely high loads (like 100A) are dirt cheap. Power devices capable of switching 100V are not.