7 ms·

The ratio of DC panel wattage to AC inverter wattage is called the inverter loading ratio, and it has been creeping up over time in utility scale solar farms. T

The ratio of DC panel wattage to AC inverter wattage is called the inverter loading ratio, and it has been creeping up over time in utility scale solar farms. The reasoning is indeed to give more of a plateau shape to AC output (which is limited by transmission line capacity) and to perform more steadily under hazy or partly cloudy conditions. In theory, this ratio could go up a lot if panel prices continue to decline faster than inverter prices. In practice, inverters probably also need partial redesign for a high loading ratio. Higher ILRs in large solar farms has appeared to contribute to faster inverter failures in recent years.

eternityforest 3y ago
I wonder what kind of onsite loads they could have to use extra capacity? Is there any high power industrial process doesn't require too much space, setup cost, or transport infrastructure for materials in and out, and can run when there's sun available? Maybe carbon capture, if that's a thing yet?
- laverya 3y ago
  This is the idea behind Terraform Industries: https://terraformindustries.com/ https://terraformindustries.com/ They're capturing carbon to turn into a useful product (fossil fuels) though.
  - rudyfink 3y ago
    That website--1990s text-only style--is a strong statement. I am not sure if it's a statement that "we're going to take over the world, get on board now" or "in hindsight, we'll say we should have spent more on marketing," but it does get one's attention.
    - tough 3y ago
      I thought it was about not wasting bytes on unnecessary stuff, but do they load shittons of JS extra marketing tracking analytics or not is the real question. Brutalism has been back for a while on webdev
    - malloryerik 3y ago
      The footer: > "Why does our website look like this? At TI we believe we can change the world by displacing fossil hydrocarbon production at global scale. Like our website, our machines are simple so we can build millions of them as quickly as possible. Our website embodies our cultural commitment to allocating resources where they solve the most important problems."
      - nanidin 3y ago
        It's quite rich to self-refer as "TI". I feel like Texas Instruments has claimed that.
- Misdicorl 3y ago
  desalinization (does require transport infra, but mostly steady state)
- dzhiurgis 3y ago
  DC-to-DC EV fast charging
- doobiedowner 3y ago
  Optics coating
- downrightmike 3y ago
  Carbon capture is just like plastic recycling, it doesn't actually work at scale and it would be best to just not produce that much carbon in the first place. We should only be using as little fossil fuels as possible to replace the grid with clean/nuclear power and batteries.
- petre 3y ago
  I think H2 production with electrolisys would be such a process to store energy. One could also make hot water for their own DHW use or charge their electric car.
yazaddaruvala 3y ago
> In practice, inverters probably also need partial redesign I'd also love for appliances to entirely adopt DC. - Homes should run on batteries. - Batteries should be trickle charged from the grid with a cheap rectifier.
- ianlevesque 3y ago
  I agree on more DC appliances. Can't really escape having a failure-prone component in the mix though. For utility-scale you still need AC for transmission. For small-scale you need a switching regulator to even out the output voltage.
- gtvwill 3y ago
  Been tossing around the idea of Poe Eth to 100w usb-c wall ports. I'd love to see more Poe DC gear. In aus we have laws where if it's <100v and x amperage you don't need a license to work on it. Would make rolling out a house or shop install/fitout able to be done using regular labourers not expensive sparkies. Hell sneak some data in and you have smart control of all these connected usb-c cabled devices too. Make for game changing smart home rollout. Gimme lamps, lights, speakers, fans, window motors, TVs all on usb-c power plus data pls.
  - ianburrell 3y ago
    Power over Ethernet can't do 100W. The 802.3bt supports 51W (Type 3) or 71W (Type 2). PoE uses pretty small currents, Type 4 is 960mA. Also, PoE does have significant loss over longer distances. It isn't a problem with low power devices but would be a huge issue for higher power. It is almost certainly more efficient to send power as 120V AC and convert to USB-C. The alternative is outlets with USB-C ports, or power strips with USB-C. Places that use 12V/48V DC have much thicker cables. They also have shorter lengths on RV, boat, or cabin.
  - conk 3y ago
    I think if there was large scale adoption of PoE to power stuff outside of network equipment the regs would eventually catch up and it would have similar requirements line voltage wiring. 100W is more than enough to start a fire. 100W at 100V is enough to kill someone. There just aren’t as many regs because it’s new and not widely used. Building codes and standards are written in blood. One an apartment burns down because a bad RJ-45 connector started a fire the codes will catch up.

eternityforest 3y ago

I wonder what kind of onsite loads they could have to use extra capacity? Is there any high power industrial process doesn't require too much space, setup cost, or transport infrastructure for materials in and out, and can run when there's sun available? Maybe carbon capture, if that's a thing yet?

laverya 3y ago
This is the idea behind Terraform Industries: https://terraformindustries.com/ https://terraformindustries.com/ They're capturing carbon to turn into a useful product (fossil fuels) though.
- rudyfink 3y ago
  That website--1990s text-only style--is a strong statement. I am not sure if it's a statement that "we're going to take over the world, get on board now" or "in hindsight, we'll say we should have spent more on marketing," but it does get one's attention.
  - tough 3y ago
    I thought it was about not wasting bytes on unnecessary stuff, but do they load shittons of JS extra marketing tracking analytics or not is the real question. Brutalism has been back for a while on webdev
  - malloryerik 3y ago
    The footer: > "Why does our website look like this? At TI we believe we can change the world by displacing fossil hydrocarbon production at global scale. Like our website, our machines are simple so we can build millions of them as quickly as possible. Our website embodies our cultural commitment to allocating resources where they solve the most important problems."
    - nanidin 3y ago
      It's quite rich to self-refer as "TI". I feel like Texas Instruments has claimed that.
Misdicorl 3y ago
desalinization (does require transport infra, but mostly steady state)
dzhiurgis 3y ago
DC-to-DC EV fast charging
doobiedowner 3y ago
Optics coating
downrightmike 3y ago
Carbon capture is just like plastic recycling, it doesn't actually work at scale and it would be best to just not produce that much carbon in the first place. We should only be using as little fossil fuels as possible to replace the grid with clean/nuclear power and batteries.
petre 3y ago
I think H2 production with electrolisys would be such a process to store energy. One could also make hot water for their own DHW use or charge their electric car.

yazaddaruvala 3y ago

> In practice, inverters probably also need partial redesign I'd also love for appliances to entirely adopt DC. - Homes should run on batteries. - Batteries should be trickle charged from the grid with a cheap rectifier.

ianlevesque 3y ago
I agree on more DC appliances. Can't really escape having a failure-prone component in the mix though. For utility-scale you still need AC for transmission. For small-scale you need a switching regulator to even out the output voltage.
gtvwill 3y ago
Been tossing around the idea of Poe Eth to 100w usb-c wall ports. I'd love to see more Poe DC gear. In aus we have laws where if it's <100v and x amperage you don't need a license to work on it. Would make rolling out a house or shop install/fitout able to be done using regular labourers not expensive sparkies. Hell sneak some data in and you have smart control of all these connected usb-c cabled devices too. Make for game changing smart home rollout. Gimme lamps, lights, speakers, fans, window motors, TVs all on usb-c power plus data pls.
- ianburrell 3y ago
  Power over Ethernet can't do 100W. The 802.3bt supports 51W (Type 3) or 71W (Type 2). PoE uses pretty small currents, Type 4 is 960mA. Also, PoE does have significant loss over longer distances. It isn't a problem with low power devices but would be a huge issue for higher power. It is almost certainly more efficient to send power as 120V AC and convert to USB-C. The alternative is outlets with USB-C ports, or power strips with USB-C. Places that use 12V/48V DC have much thicker cables. They also have shorter lengths on RV, boat, or cabin.
- conk 3y ago
  I think if there was large scale adoption of PoE to power stuff outside of network equipment the regs would eventually catch up and it would have similar requirements line voltage wiring. 100W is more than enough to start a fire. 100W at 100V is enough to kill someone. There just aren’t as many regs because it’s new and not widely used. Building codes and standards are written in blood. One an apartment burns down because a bad RJ-45 connector started a fire the codes will catch up.