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Comment by kwhitefoot | Hacker News Reader

The sun is always shining somewhere. We need more interconnects.

Global power transfers don't work due to losses. The physics doesn't work out.

Tell that to the proposed EuroAsia link (Greece-Cyprus-Israel) [1], or the proposed Australia-Singapore link [2]. Interconnector are getting longer and longer with each new generation.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroAsia_Interconnector

[2] https://www.powerengineeringint.com/smart-grid-td/td-infrast...

The electrical loss through HVDC cable is approximately 3% per 1000 km of cable, far less than with AC grids. The physics do work out, the only real barriers are economics and politics.

Exactly, just like always before: only interconnects through oceans work because otherwise one government is entrusting its fate to another. In the best case that ends with countries paying tax to other countries' governments, in the worst case that ends in war.

Or it ends with a third government cutting the cable and massively disrupting the other two

Can I return this Tesla resonator or at least exchange it for the powerwall?

A 3000 km HVDC interconnect loses only 10%. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current

The physics works out just fine. Where did you get your information from?

See also:

"On the technology front we have covered significant ground in the past two decades. We have raised power capacity from 50MW to more than 1,400MW â€“ enough to power several million households. We have enhanced voltage levels from 80kV to 525kV, thereby increasing distance capability from 70km to over 1,000km. And at the same time we have continually brought down transmission losses which are now at less than 1 percent." https://eepower.com/news/abb-doubles-hvdc-capacity-and-celeb...

HVDC enables long-distance transmission with low losses:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331959599_A_compreh...

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/building-a-2... (2 billion seems too cheep)

Global power transfer (~2e7 meters) with current standard HVDC cables would lose 64%, which is still worth doing.

The cables are designed for crossing relatively small bodies of water such as the Mediterranean or the North Sea, and can be tweaked for more efficiency if the goal is to cross the Pacific Ocean, but even without that, it would still work.

There are many ways electricity can be converted to transportable chemical energy. We just haven’t yet done so cheaper than petroleum yet. The physics works fine, the economics not so fine (yet).

The electricity never goes out on the British Empire! /s

When it's shining on the Pacific, there's not a lot of landmass.

The rest of the day works though.

Floating PV? https://www.pveurope.eu/solar-modules/singapore-offshore-flo...

Quick analysis of transmission losses may discourage this to an extent.

Only if you are unaware that long HVDC interconnects already exist and have known, and low, losses,

Where is the space mirror?

You mean the orbital death ray?

Well I was simply trying to light up the other side of the planet, but if you want to concentrate it to a small area..

In the shadow of the Earth today.¹

¹https://wttr.in/Moon

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