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They’re now reworking transformer designs to use different or less sought-after materials, to last longer, to include power electronics that allow the easy conv
by ttoinou 2y ago
They’re now reworking transformer designs to use different or less sought-after materials, to last longer, to include power electronics that allow the easy conversion between AC and DC, and to be more standardized and less customized than the transformers of today.
Or maybe they need to work out a new design that is not patent encumbered yet ?
- nine_k 2y agoThey mention a bunch of new designs: hollow cores, high-temperature insulation, adjustable impedance. It's sort of hard to replace a grid-frequency transformer (mammoth-sized because of the low frequency) with something like a switched power supply that uses much higher frequencies and thus much smaller coils. The semiconductors required for that barely handle a couple of kV, while the grid uses tens and hundreds of kV. But a crisis like this is a good thing for the progress of technology. Demand by far outstrips supply, there's obviously good money to be made. Many new approaches are going to be researched and tried.
- namibj 2y agoWe know well how to, and we have ways that allow for making very efficient DC/DC converters for the voltage levels that the grid utilizes.
- immibis 2y agoThey're quite expensive and big. Building sized. Sure these transformers are technically also building sizes, but it's a garden shed, not a warehouse.
- catlifeonmars 2y agoOr maybe the power grid is the problem.