posted on Nov, 19 2008 @ 03:39 PM
reply to post by drsmooth23
Both AC and DC have advantages. The reason we use AC current as opposed to DC is that AC can be easily transmitted long distances through wires with
minimal loss due to heat.
Any wire has some resistance to electrical current flow, based on its composition and size. We use aluminum for transmission wires because it is the
mist economical material that has a low resistance. The amount of heat generated (and therefore electricity lost) is also a function of the amount of
current flowing through that resistance in the wire. AC is transmitted via extremely high voltages, which reduces the amount of current necessary to
carry the same amount of power and thus reduces the loss.
AC is also much easier to change voltages with, using a simple transformers. DC voltage conversion is much more wasteful and difficult.
The problem with AC is that transformers tend to be very picky about the frequency of the AC signal. Too fast or too slow and you can cause
transformers to either work less efficiently, or in some case, allow too much current and burn themselves out. Because of this, the AC coming into
your house is tightly regulated at 60 Hz (59.999-60.001 Hz) in the USA, and 50 Hz (with I assume similar tolerances) in some European countries.
IMO, AC is preferable to DC because, to put it simply, everything in your house already runs off of AC. But AC current also cannot be stored as in a
battery. My feeling is that, should I have a single unit that powers my house, I would want some kind of intermediate backup should it fail. So I
approach this as a reason to use DC generation, store it in a battery pack for back-up, and then use an inverter to convert the DC into AC for actual
use. Others believe it would be preferable to just have everything running directly on DC. In my idea you need a very large inverter, in theirs you
need new appliances. It's a personal choice, in other words.
If you make something spin by itself, I will make a promise to help you in any way I can with generating power from it, whether you prefer AC or DC.
Just quit sitting on those crumbs.
TheRedneck