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> They are semi bespoke. Thats interesting, surely there are millions of them deployed out there. Was there something that prevented standardization onto few t

> They are semi bespoke. Thats interesting, surely there are millions of them deployed out there. Was there something that prevented standardization onto few types/sizes?

ggm 2y ago
It's said in the article, I think it's because the exact boundaries of operation depend so strongly on local conditions the specification space has too many parameters in variable space: easier to make them for the situation to spec than build to a standard? Down at the domestic supply level I am sure they buy thousands of mostly identical units.
- crote 2y ago
  Sure, but how much of that is strictly required? It makes sense that transformers have traditionally been completely custom designs, but does something like cable orientation really matter all that much when you've got dozens of projects being delayed by many months? Why not modify the substation design to fit the transformers which are available?
Mountain_Skies 2y ago
Over my lifetime they seem to have both shrunk and become much more reliable so someone is iterating and improving the designs, just not at a high speed we are accustomed to in the IT world. My dream for the power grid would be for every home connected to it to have at minimum a battery that could handle two hours of peak load. The operation and maintenance of the grid would be so much easier if parts of it could be disconnected for an hour or two when necessary. The end users wouldn't need to know a disruption even happened. Even better would be capacity for two days, but even just two hours should get us several sigma of improvement.
- mschuster91 2y ago
  > Over my lifetime they seem to have both shrunk and become much more reliable so someone is iterating and improving the designs, just not at a high speed we are accustomed to in the IT world. The reliability is one thing, that got improved mostly by better monitoring (you can spot early signs of degradation by analyzing the oil for residues indicating arc discharge), but the size is in the end fundamentally dominated by physics - you need a minimum gauge of copper wire to transfer a given current. The only way to improve the size of transformers will be the widespread availability of room-temperature superconducting material, which is as of now not even theoretically predicted, much less proven in practice.
  - marcosdumay 2y ago
    > The only way to improve the size of transformers will be the widespread availability of room-temperature superconducting material I'm not sure this is enough. You certainly do not need it to be room temperature, but the current density of your superconductor is critically relevant, and it tends to not be great.

> They are semi bespoke. Thats interesting, surely there are millions of them deployed out there. Was there something that prevented standardization onto few types/sizes?

ggm 2y ago

It's said in the article, I think it's because the exact boundaries of operation depend so strongly on local conditions the specification space has too many parameters in variable space: easier to make them for the situation to spec than build to a standard? Down at the domestic supply level I am sure they buy thousands of mostly identical units.

crote 2y ago
Sure, but how much of that is strictly required? It makes sense that transformers have traditionally been completely custom designs, but does something like cable orientation really matter all that much when you've got dozens of projects being delayed by many months? Why not modify the substation design to fit the transformers which are available?

Mountain_Skies 2y ago

Over my lifetime they seem to have both shrunk and become much more reliable so someone is iterating and improving the designs, just not at a high speed we are accustomed to in the IT world. My dream for the power grid would be for every home connected to it to have at minimum a battery that could handle two hours of peak load. The operation and maintenance of the grid would be so much easier if parts of it could be disconnected for an hour or two when necessary. The end users wouldn't need to know a disruption even happened. Even better would be capacity for two days, but even just two hours should get us several sigma of improvement.

mschuster91 2y ago
> Over my lifetime they seem to have both shrunk and become much more reliable so someone is iterating and improving the designs, just not at a high speed we are accustomed to in the IT world. The reliability is one thing, that got improved mostly by better monitoring (you can spot early signs of degradation by analyzing the oil for residues indicating arc discharge), but the size is in the end fundamentally dominated by physics - you need a minimum gauge of copper wire to transfer a given current. The only way to improve the size of transformers will be the widespread availability of room-temperature superconducting material, which is as of now not even theoretically predicted, much less proven in practice.
- marcosdumay 2y ago
  > The only way to improve the size of transformers will be the widespread availability of room-temperature superconducting material I'm not sure this is enough. You certainly do not need it to be room temperature, but the current density of your superconductor is critically relevant, and it tends to not be great.