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Can An 'OS For Electricity' Double the Efficiency of the Grid? (vox.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the waste-not-want-not dept.

New submitter mesterha shares an "interesting article [from Vox] on how to optimize our use of electricity": Waste on the grid is the result of poor power quality, which can be ameliorated through digital control. Real-time measurement makes that possible. 3DFS technology, which the company conceives of as an "operating system for electricity," can not only track what's happening on the electricity sine wave from nanosecond to nanosecond, it can correct the sine wave from microsecond to microsecond, perfectly adapting it to the load it serves, eliminating waste." "They claim energy reduction of around 15% but anticipate their AI tuning can get eventually get 30%," writes Slashdot reader mesterha. "Seems too good to be true, but it has the support of publications like Popular Mechanics." [3DFS won one of Popular Mechanics' "breakthrough awards" in 2017.]

13 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Has the support of Popular Mechanics... by Nutria · · Score: 3, Informative

    it's fun to read, but not terribly rigorous.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    1. Re:Has the support of Popular Mechanics... by Crashmarik · · Score: 2

      Getting on the cover of popular science or popular mechanics is usually the kiss of death.

      Still waiting for the NUTCRACKER VTOL that they claimed would be all the rage

      https://i.pinimg.com/originals...

      or the Helicopter RV
      https://i.pinimg.com/736x/36/f...

    2. Re:Has the support of Popular Mechanics... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The root problem is mostly cheap/crappy industrial AC motors. Replace them with variable speed DC motors and the reactive load mostly goes away. The new motors will pay for themselves in a few years with lower energy bills.

  2. Grids are already 90-95% efficient ... by quenda · · Score: 2

    ... so I'm leaning towards a "no" answer.

    1. Re:Grids are already 90-95% efficient ... by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Informative

      ... so I'm leaning towards a "no" answer.

      Not even close. Transmission lines are about 90-95% efficient.

      Grids on the other hand have on top of that: multiple stages of transformers, switch rooms, losses through reactive power, losses due to harmonics, slow reaction to load changes and shifts, not to mention major losses due to backfeeding from end users generation like solar through systems that were designed to be efficient feeding the other direction.

      The answer is still no, but that's because they're playing buzzword bingo rather than just calling it an intelligent control system. Not everything needs "an OS" or "AI".

  3. Re:Yes but... by pubwvj · · Score: 2

    Actually, yes, phone bills and bandwidth have gotten a LOT cheaper. Rent not so much but that is a finite physical world resource which is quite different than energy or information resources. Moore's Law doesn't apply to apartments, so far.

  4. 3-Phase by pubwvj · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, this sort of thing does have potential although non-electrical-engineers may not realize why. I have single phase (sort of almost 2Ã) at my farm. I installed a 3Ã digital phase converter (Phase Perfect for those who are interested) which uses very little power itself but generates a third phase and puts the other two in proper alignment so I can now run large motors (grinder, bandsaw in my butcher shop) efficiently. This makes the motors run smoother, cooler and last longer.

    1. Re:3-Phase by dgatwood · · Score: 2

      AFAIK, part of it is cost, and part of it is load balancing.

      Cost-wise, an entire neighborhood gets only one or two phases, which reduces the number of wires running through the entire neighborhood from four to two or three. Halving the number of wires represents a decent savings. And also, the transformers are much cheaper, because the building transformers only have to provide one phase at 240VAC instead of three.

      As for load-balancing, most houses really only need one phase, and would end up unevenly using the various phases if they had access to them. By giving houses only a single phase, you can keep the usage roughly balanced (over a sufficiently large area) by putting one-third of the homes on each phase. Similarly, most businesses and apartment complexes really can get by with two phases, so they do the same thing there. I'm not sure how much this matters in the grand scheme of things, but at least it gives the illusion of control.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  5. How to do this by AHuxley · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Got grid connected solar that will only turn off when the grid is down? Let the power company turn solar on/off at any time with their own network command.
    That gives the grid control of all power that pushed back into their grid.
    Got AC? Let the power company turn the AC on/off depending on weather and what they want to do with their grid.
    Make everyone connected to the grid pay extra for a new huge new grid battery.
    The new big battery will allow the grid to respond to slight changes in demands to the grid.
    By having control of your AC and grid connected solar the grid can make more profit.
    Suggest every new dwelling gets solar with a network on/off command connection to ensure the grid can control all new solar.
    Suggest a battery pack for homes thats also grid controlled. So the grid can charge and access battery power as needed per dwelling.

    Will this result in a better use of the grid?
    Exisiting power generation can last longer without having to build more generation.
    Thats an efficiency in the ability to generate profit every year.
    The people living in a dwelling will have to be without their AC for hours for that to glance out.
    All your AC are belong to the power company.
    The power company will decide when on a 100 deg day your "networked" AC will be turned on and off on their grid.
    No AC for you.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  6. Opposite phase by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Informative

    He's referring to "opposite phase", which is common in the US. You get two 120-volt phases that are 180 degrees apart.

    You can go across the two phases to get 240 volts for high-power appliances such as stove and clothes dryer, but that's all you can do without special equipment. Three phase requires three sources 120 degrees apart, phase-to-phase.

    1. Re:Opposite phase by Immerman · · Score: 2

      You misread, what they suggested was one of the easier ways to turn 1 phase power into 3-phase power:
      1-phase power -> 1 phase motor -> 3 phase generator -> 3 phase power

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  7. Yes, cost dropped by over 90% by raymorris · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ten years ago we charged $2.50/GB and we were cheap. My old business partner still has the page up:
    http://xcite.net/hosting/

    Current. Pricing is about 8 cents / GB.

    When I was a kid long distance calls were about $1/minute. That was the "fair, minimal profit" price set by the government. Then long distance rates were deregulated and Sprint dropped their price to 10 cents per minute - a 90% reduction in price right away. Current pricing is about a penny per minute, unless you pay $30 for unlimited minutes.

    Whoever you've been listening to, whoever has been giving you ideas about how the economy works, has clearly been lying to you, telling you the exact opposite of the truth. Might be time to get some new sources of information.

  8. Discussion over at eevblog.com by Circlotron · · Score: 4, Informative

    Snake oil as far as everyone there is concerned. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/...