Re:'It's offensively cheap': Solar power is quietly becoming...
by ErroneousBosh on Wednesday October 28, 2026 @05:58AM
(#50271185)
> Well, one potential issue that springs to mind is that DC 120V might overstress the diodes in the full bridge rectifier.
I see what you're saying but it's a bit theoretical. Nothing in a switcher is run at that tight a tolerance, because in normal operation the load will be highly variable. One of the el-cheapo switching PSUs I have on my bench right now is rated for 90V to 270V, for example, and will run quite happily fully loaded across that full range (and considerably beyond - my variac goes from 0 to about 300V output).
> they usually have some circuits that use AC directly
AC motors won't enjoy it, but heating elements won't be affected.
If you look at the switching power supplies used for network equipment that often actually *does* have ratings for DC operation.
And that's just dealing with power supplies for electronics (which mostly just want low voltage DC) - if you get into appliances, while almost all will have a power supply that converts to DC, they usually have some circuits that use AC directly (think heating elements, safety critical sensors that use the 60Hz AC waveform as part of their feedback to make sure they haven't locked up, etc). Even appliances that convert the AC input straight to DC (think anything using an inverter to drive a motor or compressor) will often use a voltage doubler circuit to get a DC bus that is ~340V from the 120V AC input (it doubles the peak voltage, which is actually ~170V and not 120V in US) ... The voltage doubler circuit will not infact double a DC input, and the appliance will likely be most unhappy when it's DC bus is a lot lower than it was designed for.