New Tesla battery could power your home, and maybe the electric grid too

Re:New Tesla battery could power your home, and maybe the el... by samatman on Thursday February 12, 2015 @10:58AM (#9039336)

I would love to see a Fermi estimate of this, I'm afraid it's outside my bailiwick.

The proposal would be 48VDC (pretty standard for panels) to 120VAC 50Hz, back to 5 and 12 volt at the application, versus sending 12 and 5 volt around a house, call it 10x10 meter perimeter and pessimize the layout (some outlets go all the way around the house).

My strong sense is that the single-step conversion beats the three-step, but losses transmitting low voltage DC are substantial.

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Re:New Tesla battery could power your home, and maybe the el... by wtallis on Thursday February 12, 2015 @11:16AM (#9039435)

Sending 12V around a 22' boat leads to voltage drops that are beyond the tolerances of many of the devices that consume 5 and 12 volt DC. Sending it around a whole house would require stupidly thick wires to stay within ATX spec (5%).

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Re:New Tesla battery could power your home, and maybe the el... by adamgravitis on Thursday February 12, 2015 @11:15AM (#9039428)

My understanding was that the greater losses in today's tech tend to lie at the VDC->VAC conversion panel-side.

Also, I agree that the USB Power Delivery spec is a very good candidate for modern homes/vehicles.

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