3 ms·

Nikola Teslas contributions are generally vastly exaggerated. Saying he “invented the twentieth century” is certainly way over the top. Aside from Westinghouse

by audunw 3y ago

Nikola Teslas contributions are generally vastly exaggerated. Saying he “invented the twentieth century” is certainly way over the top. Aside from Westinghouse ans Edison, I think Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky‘s contributions are arguably way more important for the modern elecric grid than anything Tesla did. Since three phase AC power was the key invention unlocking its potential, and he set up the first long distance three phase transmission system in Europe. But nobody has heard of him because he’s not as interested a character. Tesla is more famous mostly because he is cool, weird and did some very interesting things like building the Wardenclyffe tower.

londons_explore 3y ago
One might also imagine a constant current DC power distribution system with all houses in series that could have been deployed in the 20th century. The power company provides 1 amp constant current, and if you don't want to use any power, you short it out. If you want to run a lightbulb, you put your 1 amp through a lightbulb. If you want to run two bulbs, you put the current through 1 bulb and then the next in series. A 'fuse' would, instead of breaking the circuit, would provide a low impedance bypass for any faulty equipment if it detects an overvoltage event - easy to implement with a solenoid. Entire houses and streets could be fused in this way too, to ensure an open-circuit never occurs. On the power generation side, DC generators and batteries can be switched in and out to adjust the voltage as necessary to maintain the constant 1 amp promised to subscribers. Metering can be done with a small clock motor and coil of wire and a spring to integrate voltage over time. Such a scheme is probably cheaper because it requires no transformers.
- mark-r 3y ago
  Transformers though are the key to efficient power distribution. The power losses on running low voltage everywhere would be a killer.
- InitialLastName 3y ago
  Imagine the world where every house has a substantial DC potential relative to their local earth (and the plumbing), and where switching any inductive loads causes significant arcing. What fun could be had! I am excited that POE has finally provided us a way to run DC power in walls, but that is only approaching useful now that many loads in houses are DC at the endpoints.

by audunw 3y ago

londons_explore 3y ago

One might also imagine a constant current DC power distribution system with all houses in series that could have been deployed in the 20th century. The power company provides 1 amp constant current, and if you don't want to use any power, you short it out. If you want to run a lightbulb, you put your 1 amp through a lightbulb. If you want to run two bulbs, you put the current through 1 bulb and then the next in series. A 'fuse' would, instead of breaking the circuit, would provide a low impedance bypass for any faulty equipment if it detects an overvoltage event - easy to implement with a solenoid. Entire houses and streets could be fused in this way too, to ensure an open-circuit never occurs. On the power generation side, DC generators and batteries can be switched in and out to adjust the voltage as necessary to maintain the constant 1 amp promised to subscribers. Metering can be done with a small clock motor and coil of wire and a spring to integrate voltage over time. Such a scheme is probably cheaper because it requires no transformers.

mark-r 3y ago
Transformers though are the key to efficient power distribution. The power losses on running low voltage everywhere would be a killer.
InitialLastName 3y ago
Imagine the world where every house has a substantial DC potential relative to their local earth (and the plumbing), and where switching any inductive loads causes significant arcing. What fun could be had! I am excited that POE has finally provided us a way to run DC power in walls, but that is only approaching useful now that many loads in houses are DC at the endpoints.