ARDA DC Microgrid Platform

Tesla vs Edison fight

Tesla (AC) or Edison (DC)?

The War of Currents was a series of events surrounding the introduction of competing electric power transmission systems in the second half of the 19th Century.

​It took place during the introduction and rapid expansion of the alternating current standard (already in use and advocated by several US and European companies) and its eventual adoption over the direct current distribution system.

1st Round: Tesla rules

The DC system generated and distributed electrical power at the same voltage as used by customers requiring large, costly distribution wires and forced generating plants to be near the loads.

​With the development of a transformer, AC power could be sent long distances over smaller and less costly wires at a conveniently high voltage. AC generating stations could be larger and more efficient.

The lower cost of AC power distribution prevailed, though DC systems persisted in some urban areas throughout the 20th century.

2nd Round: Edison is not giving up!

Then came the era of semiconductors which enabled creation of modern age loads running on DC as well as power electronics which made it possible to efficiently convert DC power from one voltage level to another. 

The beginning of the 21st century marked explosive growth of Solar PV and high efficiency loads running on DC; more recently EVs and energy storage have provided an additional boost to the growth of devices and distribution systems using DC power.

3rd Round: temporary Draw

DC and AC will co-exist for a while: for new Sources and Loads, DC is clearly winning, but even in the distributed energy world, integration is done predominantly on AC networks.
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But this draw is only temporary. Once DC Microgrids are available, the switch from AC networks in the distributed energy world will happen swiftly due to significant benefits in cost, efficiency, reliability and resiliency of DC linked systems.

 Try these versions of the "AC vs DC" fight :-)