Making Green Energy More Reliable
Monday, November 8, 2010 - 11:20
in Physics & Chemistry
The big knock on huge wind or solar farms in developed countries is whose back yard the new power lines will run through. Off-shore wind farms or solar farms in remote deserts may be a solution to that but current methods of transmission are unsuitable - at long distances, alternating current will have as much as 40% loss and while direct current will only lose about 7%, it means huge converter stations are essential before the power can reach homes. High-voltage direct-current transmission (HVDCT) could be made more achievable using low-cost semiconductor cells, the focus of research at Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB in Erlangen. read more