Very early in the discovery of electricity there was a major competition between the protagonists of ac and dc formats. Thomas Edison favoured dc and Nikola Tesla the ac systems. By all accounts, it was quite a tussle at the time.
Any format was good as long as the generation and use were all nearby. But as the grid became larger the network losses on the distribution network would have grown to have an impact overall. Dc would have been found to be rather unmanageable.
Ac, on the other hand, can very simply be voltage increased and also decreased; the transformer making this all very simple and possible. Transformers are very passive in what they do and, as such, have unsurpassed reliability. Westinghouse, who were amongst the leaders to get electricity up and going, relied on the ac system as well.
All this sounds awfully similar to the VHS/BETA saga of the 1990s, VHS became the victor despite BETA being superior and, of course, both were overtaken by CD/DVD disc type (and now those are also dying out).
Over time all became ac-based except for where motors and speed controls were used. dc had the edge here for quite a while, but eventually this too was taken over by the ac-based technology, so much so that dc has really become somewhat of a lost art. That was until renewables popped up and now batteries are the ‘thing’ again. However, rather unrelated to their older battery cousins, they are dc-based in their approach.
Of course, much of what we use in the modern house these days may be plugged into the ac mains but converts that power to dc at low voltage for electronic use. One could also look at the cell phone industry which started with everyone having a device-specific charger then, which almost overnight went for a common approach and even not supplying a charger at all. One can only imagine the effect on the cell charger factories pumping out a charger per phone to not supplying a major portion of the market.
Simultaneously, dc charger connections are now readily available in the actual ac socket systems as well as your vehicle. With such a rapid change over such a short time, manufacturers are really worried that investment costs may never be recovered or that the market takes sudden direction changes. The USB cell conversion is successful as the power used is quite low, and the whole electrical system is being challenged by these sudden and urgent market directions.
The internal switch mode power supply in many of the electronic devices on the market could suddenly be removed from the device and placed outside, meaning an immediate price drop. Industry confirms that these universal voltage (110-250V) power supplies are rather easily damaged by voltage surges and spikes, so such a move may be quite good. Replacement rather than device repair would be the outcome.
Maybe it is time for the dc option to be explored in the common ac socket or alongside if we are seriously viewing the market direction? E.g., one rather larger power supply close and next to the main DB and wired out may be all it takes.
Almost every socket manufacturer has the 5 V dc USB option on offer. A 12 V 2-5 A power system is, after all, a very safe situation to deal with from supply and safety.
Of course, any sudden market sway will result in available dc product/s being in short supply, forcing manufacturers to play catchup. Legislation would also require revising. Legislation was seen to lag the alternative energy introduction and we wonder if it will ever fully catch up.
So, maybe the dc beast will start to raise its head going forward. Challenging times for sure!
By Kevin Flack
Enquiries: kevin.flack@outlook.com