DC Distribution

Primary energy savings proposition of DC systems has been the ability to

cut losses in the distribution and conversion of electricity as it travels
through a building to end-use
o Losses attributable directly to the distribution infrastructure include
wire and conversion losses
o Power conversions are further broken out based on their location in
the system
Building level conversions - needed in DC buildings to convert
incoming AC electricity into DC or in ZNE buildings to invert
onsite PV energy
Device-level conversion occurs near the end-use in power
supplies, ballasts, or motor drives

Political
Potential for single points of failure
o Without redundant power supplies, system-level outages may be
more common in a DC infrastructure than in AC
o Instead of a power supply on each device, DC buildings use large,
room-level AC-DC or DC-DC power supplies
o These DC power supplies contain active

Regulatory
In the early phases of a transition to DC power, it would be necessary to
have both AC as well as DC power available in buildings to service the
large number of legacy AC devices
o This will require new codes, standards and coordination between a
number of electrical standards agencies. The requirement of
running parallel AC and DC distribution systems for plug loads also
naturally incurs additional cost

Technological
Reduction in electronic waste
o nearly any consumer electronic product purchased today is sold
with an AC-DC power supply, but if buildings eventually transition to
DC electric distribution systems, several key stages of todays
power supplies would not be necessary, including AC-DC
rectification and power factor correction.
Lack of DC ready products
o Electrical devices use DC
o They require AC power source
o Well need to make standardization efforts to coax end-use product
manufacturers building design professionals, and building owners
and operators into fully embracing DC technology and catalysing
market transformation
Much more prone to dangerous arc flash

Without the appropriate connector design, DC loads can remain

energized even after the user physically disconnects a load. For
that reason, high-voltage DC is not appropriate for plug loads or
easily accessible light fixturespulling a plug from the wall could
draw an electric arc out of the socket, keeping the appliance
energized and directly exposing users to current

Im going to run you through the main tailwinds and headwinds with the project.
The first benefit with implementing the distribution system is that you lose some
of the technical issues with an alternating current. For example, frequency
control. Or for those of you who havent got an engineering background, you
dont have to fiddle around with it much. Lets say you install a solar panel on
your roof. Lets say you even go a step further and install a wind turbine. Having
a DC distribution system will mean you would waste less energy getting the
electricity from the panel into your home to use.
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Mr. Smith down the street has a lot of electrical appliances. Each of those
appliances has a little device that switches between AC and DC. With a DC
distribution system, you do away with those all those little devices.
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The problem is that a lot of devices arent made to run on DC. But even if
companies did start to make DC-ready appliances, Mr. Smiths iPod, his iPhone
and iPad, all run on AC. So we cant just switch. What can we do? Wed need to
supply Mr. Smith with AC and DC in all his power points.
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Secondly, theres a safety issue. One of the problems is that with DC supply is
that sometimes their loads can remain energized even after you disconnect
them. This would mean that Mr. Smith could potentially be exposed to some of
the current from the grid if he were to say pull a plug out of a socket. Well get
back to that point in just a second
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So its well and good describing it like this but how do we really measure it all.
Wed need to do a cost-benefit analysis.
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To our regulators, wed need to weigh up the pros and cons and ultimately
convince them that implementing the system would be in the publics best
interest. So what are the benefits? Well we talked about the energy savings.
Wed need to make forecasts and estimate the amount of energy Mr. Smith and
the rest of the UK would save if we went through with this.
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Now on the other end, in terms of costs, wed consider the fact that Mr. Smiths
bills might increase. But I think the most important thing wed need to convince
the regulators is that our safety is airtight.

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To our shareholders, wed attempt to quantify the increase in revenues from all
the factors I mentioned, most of which would come from our regulator. These
benefits would be weighed up against the capital cost of building the
infrastructure required for this distribution network. The capital cost of replacing
equipment and operational costs associated with powering that equipment. And
also the cost of decommissioning the equipment when the time comes.