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Comment by spiritplumber | Hacker News Reader

Funny that something called Tesla Energy brings back direct current to the home. I wonder how many people will catch that.

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Or Tesla laughing from beyond the grave at the fact that a company named after him is getting the credit for bringing DC to the home?

That's the joke.

I wonder if technology becomes prevalent if we will see appliances change to run on DC.

At the very least it might make some sense to have a 5V and a 12V rail to charge stuff. USB(C) and car lighter socket.

I would take a wall plug standard for low current DC. If I have a giant battery pack in my garage full of DC, why do I need to convert it back to AC to run 15 feet into my house where it then gets turned back into DC to charge my phone & laptop?

I had a boat with both AC & DC sockets, but we had the normal socket for both and the label plates showed you which was which. I don't think that solution is acceptable for the wider marketplace, the plugs should probably be physically distinct. Maybe USB-C is the solution, though I don't know how long the cables can be.

From an efficiency standpoint, the only thing that matters is how you handle the high drain equipment. It doesn't make sense to worry about inefficiencies in your 5V phone charger because its power draw is trivial anyways.

oh but think how much nicer the cable looks without the bulky box of the transformer.

I'd consider it less of a joke and more of a tribute! They carried on his dream and his name.

Less funny when you consider that the Tesla press release submitted here for discussion says, "The Powerwall consists of Tesla’s lithium-ion battery pack, liquid thermal control system and software that receives dispatch commands from a solar inverter." The inverter, of course, converts battery DC current to household AC current so that people can continue to enjoy AC power in their homes.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/automotive/dc-a...

That raises a question: if one were to build a new house with solar and battery integration present from the start, would it make sense to run DC appliances?

Well obviously. Everything runs off AC, no one would buy this battery pack if it didn't have an inverter.

That didn't look at all obvious when I replied above, because I was replying to a comment that said, in so many words, "Funny that something called Tesla Energy brings back direct current to the home." No, Tesla Energy is not bringing back direct current to the home. It is providing battery backup for continuing provision of alternating current to the home, which is strictly necessary in a world of appliances that run on AC current. I took the trouble to read the fine article before replying the first time, after first reading the previously posted comments.

(My late dad was an industrial engineer for a company that manufactured electric generators, so this issue immediately jumped into my mind when I saw the comment I replied to. The difference between AC power and DC power was dinner-table conversation in my home when I was growing up.) Does anyone think that my comment above was in any way harmful to the community or to the discussion here?

Perhaps even better; the one of the most prominent inventors of the Lithium Ion batteries is a man named Goodenough.

I definitely got a chuckle out of it.

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