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Re:Harvesting Electricity from High-Voltage Transmission Lin... by 15457345234 on Sunday January 28, 2024 @04:51AM (#39164062)
I think the main reason the electricity companies discourage this is the hazard it presents. The 'collector' is basically a current transformer, which means:

1. If the outputs of the 'collector' go open circuit (because the rectifier/capacitor/whatever dies) the voltage at those terminals is going to rise theoretically towards infinity - insulation breakdown and discharge will occur which is likely to result in a fire.

2. The current generated by the 'collector' is going to be proportional to the transmission line current; if a ground fault occurs on the line the current in the collector winding is going to spike up to some silly level; that will probably result destruction of whatever is connected to the collector outputs and subsequently a fire.

Re:Harvesting Electricity from High-Voltage Transmission Lin... by shagie on Sunday January 28, 2024 @10:10AM (#39166463)
Imagine the alternate history political and legal mess if PG&E had found such a setup in proximity to the start of the fires back in '21 and '22.