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[ ] [qc-flag] Latest News SYLVANIA UltraLED(tm) Ultrasonic Stairwell Fixture - Thursday, 02 September 2021 12:15 Milwaukee(r) Expands Lighting Solutions with New Hands-Free Underbody Light - Thursday, 09 September 2021 11:52 BCEA Meet the Leaders Series: Allison Stragha, Code Electric - Friday, 12 November 2021 09:47 Grounded in Ontario: Protecting Consumers against the Underground Economy with Soussanna Karas - Friday, 12 November 2021 10:02 Recessed Cover Kits for 5.5" Concrete Box - Tuesday, 02 November 2021 14:28 Jennifer Green, Director of Competitions and Young Women's Initiatives at Skills Ontario, Receives Women of Inspiration(tm) Award - Tuesday, 16 November 2021 10:55 LabTest Certification Receives OSHA's Recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) for Testing and Listing of Electrical Products - Wednesday, 17 November 2021 11:05 2021 Ontario Electrical Safety Code (28th Edition) - Friday, 19 November 2021 10:36 M18(tm) Utility Remote Control Search Light Spots Lines, Floods Fields and Goes Anywhere - Monday, 15 November 2021 05:23 CAF-FCA Launching National Leadership Development Program for Women in the Skilled Trades - Thursday, 25 November 2021 15:43 Canadian Electrical Industry News Week * Home * Latest Articles * Resources + Case Studies + Whitepapers + Learning Opportunities + Events * Product News * Changing Scene * Peers & Profiles * Contact * Archives + Articles + Weekly Digest + AD Spotlights + Digital Handbooks Archive * Weekly Digest Subscription * Home * Latest Articles * Resources + Case Studies + Whitepapers + Learning Opportunities + Events * Product News * Changing Scene * Peers & Profiles * Contact * Archives + Articles + Weekly Digest + AD Spotlights + Digital Handbooks Archive * Weekly Digest Subscription facebook twitter linkedin * You are here: * Home [arrow] * Latest Articles [arrow] * Why Mega Construction Projects Fail -- and Keys to Solutions 9 Reasons Why DC May Replace AC Share * Print * Email * * * DC Current Gregory Reed Direct Current (DC) electric power is an emerging disruptive technological area that has the potential to stimulate economic growth, inspire innovation, increase research and development opportunities, create jobs, and simultaneously advance environmental sustainability. DC technology and applications offer the promise of enhanced energy efficiency, improved power quality and reliability, and inherent alignment with renewable and clean energy development. The power of direct current (DC) DC power is beginning to evolve towards replacing AC as a worldwide standard for electricity delivery infrastructure, in many applications, based on the nine reasons listed below: 1. DC power is significantly more energy efficient than AC power. * DC motors and appliances have higher efficiency and power to size characteristics. * DC-based lighting (LED) is as much as 75% more efficient than incandescent lighting. * The greater efficiency resulting from recent developments in DC converter technology allows improvements in electricity delivery over long distances. 2. DC is inherently compatible with renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind. These renewable sources generate power intermittently (when the sun shines or the wind blows), requiring storage (batteries) in some applications as part of the system in order to provide reliable supply, and also require a power conversion interface to the grid. Solar PV is inherently a DC energy supply, as are batteries, making DC a more naturally compatible interface. 3. Energy storage integration is enhanced. Energy storage is required to improve the capacity utilization of renewable energy supplies. Most energy storage technologies are DC-based (primarily in the form of battery technologies), creating opportunities for improved integration efficiencies and reduced operating losses. 4. Electronic equipment operates on DC power. There is a loss of 5% to 20% when AC power is converted to DC power. The increasing reliance on electronic equipment creates a greater need for DC power. Eliminating these conversion losses from AC to DC will become even more important, and will motivate a shift to DC power, and require advances in new power conversion technologies. 5. DC and Hybrid AC/DC micro-grids are being developed. Micro-grid applications can effectively integrate local power generation with the main power grid to effectively serve defined end-use loads; improve reliability, especially under disturbance event conditions; and create opportunities to buy and sell (net metering) power to minimize energy costs to the consumer. 6. The technology needed to gain the advantages of DC power in data centers, homes, and communities is making significant advances. * DC power is already in use at the "bottom of the pyramid," for example in rural India and China, because the national (AC) power grid does not reach there. Four states in India are experimenting with providing DC power to homes; a 2014 initiative that is created and led by a partner in the Business of Humanity(r) project, with the financial support of the Central Government in India. * Also, the most significant new consumers of electric power today are the companies (Google, Apple, Visa, etc.) at the "apex of the pyramid," which operate computer data centers and server farms. They need DC power because electronics require DC power. New developments for DC applications are creating investment in local DC power generation in order to ensure 24/7 reliability with zero downtime, and improve the efficiency of supply. * Electric vehicles use DC (battery) power and their batteries can be charged using DC power in a small fraction of the time needed for charging using AC power. In Europe, smart villages that use DC power are being designed, and electric vehicles are envisaged as part of the storage system for renewable power. 7. New technologies support clean, local, distributed generation of DC power. Solar, wind, second-generation clean biomass, and innovative, low-cost fuel cell designs that use natural gas are ideal for green, local power generation. DC infrastructure will help to better improve the integration of such resources into the grid, and enhance their overall economic and environmental value proposition. 8. Many new long distance transmission lines in the U.S., China, India, and Europe are moving toward ultra-high voltage DC (HVDC). In the U.S., the new transmission lines from major wind and solar farms in the mid-west and western states are being planned as HVDC, in addition to an emergence of HVDC merchant transmission projects throughout the county. There already are approximately 20 HVDC systems in operation in the U.S. and Canada. All of China's new high voltage transmission is planned as HVDC, with dozens of systems already in operation and over 20 new systems in planning stages. Europe is expanding and upgrading much of its transmission infrastructure with HVDC being a significant part of their plans, including interconnection of nations and continents. HVDC transmission is cheaper than AC at a certain distance for power delivery, because of recently developed disruptive technologies involving power semi-conductors. Other esoteric technical reasons (such as elimination of the "skin effect" that arises with AC) and reduced losses through advanced power converter designs motivate the shift to DC transmission. Moreover, the investment for HVDC transmission is less because the gauges (thickness) of the wires can be smaller, and because one less wire is required (two poles for DC vs. three-phases for AC). Therefore, many of the major reasons why the world went with AC at the turn of the 20th century are no longer relevant. Today there are strong economic reasons and sustainability-related incentives to invest in DC infrastructure. 9. In China and Europe, new cities and villages are being envisioned that will be entirely DC powered. In green-field applications, from resource and delivery infrastructure to end-use applications, complete DC system concepts and operation are being considered in many developing parts of the world. As we look to electrify more remote parts of the globe, there are many advantages to employing DC infrastructure. Read the rest of the series: - 9 Reasons Why DC May Replace AC: Part 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Gregory Reed, PhD, is the Director of the Electric Power Initiative in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, Director of the University's Center for Energy, and Associate Professor of Electric Power Engineering in the Swanson School's Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. He is also the Director and Technical Lead of the Grid Technologies Collaborative for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, and an inaugural member of the National Academies of Science and Engineering's Energy Ambassador Program. In addition to these roles, he is the owner and principal consultant of Power Grid Technology Consulting, LLC. * * * Changing Scene * Prev * Next EIN Greenlee Experience 400 Greenlee(r) Launches New Contest to Celebrate ... Greenlee(r), a part of Emerson's professional tools portfolio, is now accepting entries for its ... Read More... EIN 57 BC logo 400 B.C. Introducing New Certification System for 10 ... Skilled tradespeople in British Columbia will benefit from a made-in-B.C. system to support and ... Read More... EIN EHRC logo 400 Enabling Change: Electricity Sector Employment ... EHRC (Electricity Human Resources Canada), in collaboration with the Government of Ontario's ... Read More... 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Go HERE to join the discussion --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Leadership, D&I, Supply Chain, and how Schneider Electric is Driving Electrification Through Digitization with Adrian Thomas Adrian ThomasBy Blake Marchand Adrian Thomas has been with Schneider Electric for 6 years, serving in several roles before taking on the challenge of Canadian President for Schneider Electric in January of 2021. We spoke to him about his experience in the role so far, his approach to leadership, energy management, supply chain resilience, how digitalization is enabling sustainability, and the importance of diversity and inclusion. Thomas stepped into the role during the pandemic, which obviously presented some unique challenges, being in different roles throughout his time with the company, Thomas said he felt that he knew Schneider Electric and the Canadian market well, but COVID provided some uncertainty. Read More --------------------------------------------------------------------- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Skilled Trades Looking at CERB Statistics CERB StatisticsThe COVID-19 pandemic had large impacts on those in the skilled trades, as these jobs often require hands-on and close-proximity interactions. Using data from the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform, this study examines the pandemic's impacts by investigating the proportion of journeypersons who received the CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) among those who certified between 2008 and 2019. 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