4 ms·

DC doesn't have phase and frequency issues AC does. Presumably a shared DC grid would be constant-voltage. What surprises naive me is that gigawatt inverters

by EEGuy 14y ago

DC doesn't have phase and frequency issues AC does. Presumably a shared DC grid would be constant-voltage. What surprises naive me is that gigawatt inverters seem to be a done deal. Once we have gigawatt-hour ("utility-") scale storage, then we can have a fully renewables-based future (again, naive me thinks).

stcredzero 14y ago
The government should be building out infrastructure like this.
- sageikosa 14y ago
  Or maybe someone who could profit from it.
  - yarrel 14y ago
    Rent seeking doesn't lead to innovation.
    - sageikosa 14y ago
      Hence why the government shouldn't be involved. I live in a state (Pennsylvania) with energy choice. The one with the most "efficient" system gets the lowest rates, which allows me to preserve my own little slice of the "social wealth". If I so choose, I can go for an eco-friendly solution as well, if that sort of thing made me feel good.
      - stcredzero 14y ago
        By this logic, the interstates, the railroads, and the internet should not exist.
        CapitalistCartr 14y ago
        That makes no sense. First, he's advocating private ownership of electrical infrastructure, not the elimination of it. Built by private interests doesn't equate to non-existence. Second, advocating private ownership of electrical infrastructure doesn't equate advocating private creation and ownership of all infrastructure. I rather like a good straw man; this one isn't.
        stcredzero 14y ago
        > Built by private interests doesn't equate to non-existence. Sometimes it does.
        sageikosa 14y ago
        Possibly true for the interstates (Eisenhower's nostalgia for his WWI era cross-country army convoy trip), at least as they now exist. Maybe we'd have more private toll-roads, or semi-private (such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the prototype for the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System) toll roads; or maybe not. In any case our current landscape would undoubtedly have been differently formed, and there'd be a lot fewer state bureaucracies related to transportation. Many railroads (in the US of A) may have been state chartered and sanctioned, but generally were built and operated by profit-seeking enterprises (such as the Pennsylvania Railroad), negotiating land-sale or lease for right-of-way. The most notable exception is the Transcontinental Railroad, which took an act of Congress to get it started, and another one to end its construction phase. The government didn't build the railroads, they just regulated many of them to death. The (US Federal) government only runs Amtrak, whose primary purpose is intercity passenger, and that's only seen a surge in recent times because air-travel has gotten a bit more onerous. The early internet protocols may have started as a DARPA project, but the Internet you connect to isn't a single thing, it is a private provider with private packet passing agreements with other private providers. The name resolution system is probably the biggest most visible remnant of government "creation", and one that arguably shouldn't be left with it.
  - grecy 14y ago
    Why does anyone need to profit from it? By definition, that means the service will be more expensive than necessary. What's wrong with the government charging a fee that is just enough to break even year after year?
    - ams6110 14y ago
      a) can you name a government program that is not "more expensive than necessary"? b) the cost of something (in a competitive market) is determined by supply and demand, not by the amount of profit a supplier makes (or doesn't make).
alexkus 14y ago
Gigawatt-hour storage does exist but it is limited in capacity. Dinorwig can store ~11GWh and can provide that at 1.8GW (going from 0W to 1.8GW in under 2 minutes) and is ~75% efficient as a store, but it's only got a 6 hour capacity due to the limited size of the upper reservoir. Something similar built at Itaipu or Three Gorges scale could provide some more serious capacity.

by EEGuy 14y ago

stcredzero 14y ago

The government should be building out infrastructure like this.

sageikosa 14y ago
Or maybe someone who could profit from it.
- yarrel 14y ago
  Rent seeking doesn't lead to innovation.
  - sageikosa 14y ago
    Hence why the government shouldn't be involved. I live in a state (Pennsylvania) with energy choice. The one with the most "efficient" system gets the lowest rates, which allows me to preserve my own little slice of the "social wealth". If I so choose, I can go for an eco-friendly solution as well, if that sort of thing made me feel good.
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      By this logic, the interstates, the railroads, and the internet should not exist.
      - CapitalistCartr 14y ago
        That makes no sense. First, he's advocating private ownership of electrical infrastructure, not the elimination of it. Built by private interests doesn't equate to non-existence. Second, advocating private ownership of electrical infrastructure doesn't equate advocating private creation and ownership of all infrastructure. I rather like a good straw man; this one isn't.
        stcredzero 14y ago
        > Built by private interests doesn't equate to non-existence. Sometimes it does.
      - sageikosa 14y ago
        Possibly true for the interstates (Eisenhower's nostalgia for his WWI era cross-country army convoy trip), at least as they now exist. Maybe we'd have more private toll-roads, or semi-private (such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the prototype for the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System) toll roads; or maybe not. In any case our current landscape would undoubtedly have been differently formed, and there'd be a lot fewer state bureaucracies related to transportation. Many railroads (in the US of A) may have been state chartered and sanctioned, but generally were built and operated by profit-seeking enterprises (such as the Pennsylvania Railroad), negotiating land-sale or lease for right-of-way. The most notable exception is the Transcontinental Railroad, which took an act of Congress to get it started, and another one to end its construction phase. The government didn't build the railroads, they just regulated many of them to death. The (US Federal) government only runs Amtrak, whose primary purpose is intercity passenger, and that's only seen a surge in recent times because air-travel has gotten a bit more onerous. The early internet protocols may have started as a DARPA project, but the Internet you connect to isn't a single thing, it is a private provider with private packet passing agreements with other private providers. The name resolution system is probably the biggest most visible remnant of government "creation", and one that arguably shouldn't be left with it.
- grecy 14y ago
  Why does anyone need to profit from it? By definition, that means the service will be more expensive than necessary. What's wrong with the government charging a fee that is just enough to break even year after year?
  - ams6110 14y ago
    a) can you name a government program that is not "more expensive than necessary"? b) the cost of something (in a competitive market) is determined by supply and demand, not by the amount of profit a supplier makes (or doesn't make).

alexkus 14y ago

Gigawatt-hour storage does exist but it is limited in capacity. Dinorwig can store ~11GWh and can provide that at 1.8GW (going from 0W to 1.8GW in under 2 minutes) and is ~75% efficient as a store, but it's only got a 6 hour capacity due to the limited size of the upper reservoir. Something similar built at Itaipu or Three Gorges scale could provide some more serious capacity.