5 ms·

On top of that: HVDC scales because resistive loss in power transmission can be reduced quadratically by increasing the voltage (assuming fixed load, so current

by vitus 4y ago

On top of that: HVDC scales because resistive loss in power transmission can be reduced quadratically by increasing the voltage (assuming fixed load, so current drops to compensate). (Loss is also increased linearly by transmitting more power through it. Thanks, Joule.) If your 5% loss per Mm is at 500kV, increasing that to 1MV (entering the territory of UHVDC) means that you're only talking 1.25% loss per Mm which translates to "just" 22% loss over 20Mm, or even just 5% over the ~4Mm that separates Phoenix and NYC. That tech exists. We just haven't begun to build it in the US. (There are plenty of obstacles beyond just the materials cost.)

BizarroLand 4y ago
I wonder if we might live to see excess electricity being beamed to geosynchronous satellites and then redirected on the fly to locations that need them. That would be pretty awesome even with larger losses and allow better overall land resource usage. Imagine Solar Electricity from the Sahara being beamed to London during a heat wave to decrease the costs of running AC and saving lives.
- ben_w 4y ago
  I’d be very surprised if that works out better than a really big wire, but it’s not inconceivable that a future post-scarcity government may prefer the aesthetic.
  - BizarroLand 4y ago
    I think there's a certain limit where the line losses just from the resistance of the wire would be greater than the dissipation losses from converting the electricity into microwave radiation and reconverting it on the receiving end. Then again, if we had that technology available then it would make the most sense to have solar panel satellites beaming their acquired energy down to receiver stations rather than generating it on earth and sending it elsewhere. I wonder how much London, New York, LA, or Dubai would pay for electricity that also cuts 1% of the sunlight overhead while it is being generated, making the weather cooler and decreasing the amount of electricity needed in the process?

by vitus 4y ago

BizarroLand 4y ago

I wonder if we might live to see excess electricity being beamed to geosynchronous satellites and then redirected on the fly to locations that need them. That would be pretty awesome even with larger losses and allow better overall land resource usage. Imagine Solar Electricity from the Sahara being beamed to London during a heat wave to decrease the costs of running AC and saving lives.

ben_w 4y ago
I’d be very surprised if that works out better than a really big wire, but it’s not inconceivable that a future post-scarcity government may prefer the aesthetic.
- BizarroLand 4y ago
  I think there's a certain limit where the line losses just from the resistance of the wire would be greater than the dissipation losses from converting the electricity into microwave radiation and reconverting it on the receiving end. Then again, if we had that technology available then it would make the most sense to have solar panel satellites beaming their acquired energy down to receiver stations rather than generating it on earth and sending it elsewhere. I wonder how much London, New York, LA, or Dubai would pay for electricity that also cuts 1% of the sunlight overhead while it is being generated, making the weather cooler and decreasing the amount of electricity needed in the process?