Question 1120496: Long conductive wires, such as those that carry electricity from the power plant to you the customer, tend to get very hot due to the amount of current as well as the amount of conductive material through which the electrons have to travel. Given that Pin > Pout and that P = I V, explain why power companies “step up” the generated voltage (~ 13,000 V) to multiple times that value (~ 360,000 V).
Found 2 solutions by ankor@dixie-net.com, Alan3354:
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Long conductive wires, such as those that carry electricity from the power plant to you the customer, tend to get very hot due to the amount of current as well as the amount of conductive material through which the electrons have to travel. Given that Pin > Pout and that P = I V, explain why power companies “step up” the generated voltage (~ 13,000 V) to multiple times that value (~ 360,000 V).
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The line loss is often referred to a the IR loss (current * wire resistance) and it translates to mostly heat
If you can lower the current it will lower the IR Loss, obviously>
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The consumer consumption is measured in Kilowatts which is voltage times current consumed; Volts*current
You can transfer the same power using less current if you raise voltage, so the power companies step up the voltage with transformers and when it arrives close to the consumer's home they step it down to the standard 120/240 volts
Answer by Alan3354(69443)  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! We're fortunate that Tesla convinced the decision makers that Edison's idea or transmitting DC instead of AC was rejected.
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Transformers are remarkably efficient, 90% or better.
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Edison wanted to generate and transmit DC, IDK at what voltage.
Fortunately, Tesla's idea of using high-voltage AC was implemented.
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If we had super conductors that would work at high temperatures at that time, that could have affected the decision.
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What's needed now is household appliances and electronic things that use 12 to 48 VDC (some do). Presently, solar panels generate electricity at 12 VDC (and then connected in series to give 24 or 48 VDC) and is commonly stored in batteries.
Then, for residential use, large expensive inverters are used to convert that to 110/220 VAC, with some losses.
TV's, computers, and a lot of other things use 12 - 24 VDC internally. So the power stored in batteries, which are always DC, is converted to AC, then that's converted back to DC, with losses at each conversion.
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Refrigerators, dishwashers, air conditioners, washing machines, fans, and other appliances could be made to use 48 VDC, and the inverters could be eliminated or made smaller.
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