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Every year divisible by four with remainder one, adventurous geeks hold an outdoor festival in the Netherlands. This year, about 6000 people are expected to attend a long weekend.
Among them will be a group of experimenters who will be testing a 42 volt direct current grid. Specifically, a cluster of tents within the festival will receive approximately 50 × 4 Amperé supplies and 8 × 16 Amperé supplies. Hopefully, this will be run by solar power but there will also be a backup generator. Switching a high load of direct current is more complicated than alternating current and losses around the example MOSFET circuit are expected to be less than 0.2W per junction. Although people are expected to bring together previously untested circuitry, it is hoped that pieces of the project will inspire multiple direct current grids in more permanent locations.
Hopefully, electrocution or voltage drop doesn't halt electrical distribution at the festival.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Sunday July 02 2017, @05:01PM
The only reason I can think of for that number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42-volt_electrical_system [wikipedia.org]
But everyone else uses some multiple of the 12V number, derived from the 12V lead acid automotive battery where the cell voltage is roughly 2V per cell. 48V in telecom and mission critical communications equipment, 24V in industrial automation and European heavy duty trucks, 12V in automotive and many others. Solar battery systems use most of those 12V multiples voltages up to 60V.
It would be easier to pick a more common voltage like 24 or 48 as you can more easily find off the shelf power supplies, DC-DC converters, and devices that run on those voltages.