"3,000 times faster than the fastest mechanical breaker, this
innovation could radically alter how we manage power."

Article:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a27557804/digital-circuit-breaker/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 12:34:57 PM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
"3,000 times faster than the fastest mechanical breaker, this
innovation could radically alter how we manage power."

Article:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a27557804/digital-circuit-breaker/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I haven't read PM for decades, but if this is representative of the crap
they publish now, boy have they gone way downhill.

"This new breaker makes power easier to manage and 3000 times faster than the fastest mechanical breaker, marking one of the most radical advancements in power distribution since Thomas Edison, next to Nikola Tesla."

They are actually comparing this POS to Edison and Tesla? Really?
I see no "breakthrough", it would seem to me that it's always been
straightforward to build a solid state breaker using power semiconductors
that would be thousands of times faster than a mechanical one. The
obvious issues are, who the hell needs one in their house, it's going
to cost many times more, and if you get hit with a surge, good chance
you're going to need thirty new digital breakers, while mechanical ones
likely survive.

I'm sure there are some applications that need breakers that are
3000 times faster than mechanical ones and I bet they already have them
too. But those special apps are not what this is apparently for.



"Picture the fuse box in your basement, each switch assigned to different electrical components of your home. These switches are designed to break a circuit to prevent the overloaded wires in your wall from overheating and causing a fire. When this happens, you plod down to your mechanical room and flick the switches on again."

Yes, imagine that, a trip to the panel once every couple years on the
rare occasion one trips. At least here. I suppose if you overload
everything, it could be different. But then I'd say the solution to that
is to fix the overloads, not make it so you can reset the breaker from
your iPhone.


"Now multiply that simple system in your home to city high rises and industrial buildings, which might have 250 circuit breakers on any given floor, each one ranging from 15 to 4000 amps at higher voltages. At this scale, the limitations and dangers of a manually controlled power system become much more evident€”and costly."

Really? Industry wants high amp breakers that you can reset from a phone?
Limitations? What happens when the Russians hack in and turn off your power?
I guess in situations where it's not so easy to get to breakers, this could
have an advantage, but I've never lived anywhere that was a problem.


€œInstead of using mechanics to switch the power, we apply digital inputs," Kennedy told Popular Mechanics. €œNow I have no moving parts.. Now I have the ability to connect things like iPhones and iPads for remote power management, which increases safety and improves efficiency. I can set the distribution panel to a schedule so the flow of power is seamless, unlimited, and shifts between sources automatically. You literally wouldnt notice. The lights wouldnt even flicker.€�


Yes indeed. Silly me, I never scheduled the power distribution here.
It already is seamless and essentially unlimited. Switching between
sources? WTF? Even homes that have solar, it is already seemless
and it doesn't switch, it's the solar is tied to the grid.
Obviously I've been doing something wrong all along.
What's also notable here is the above gibberish BS is given as a direct
quote from the CEO of the company.

Quite an amazing find. Wonder why they don't say how much this costs?
About all I can see this being good for is for time of day savings,
if your electric company offers it. You could use it to only activate
the electric water heater at night, or charge the car at night, for a
lower rate. But even there it's questionable. Isn't it better to have
the decision made at the car charger? You set it to charge primarily
at night, but if you come home empty and want to charge now, you can
easily do it by pushing a button at the charger in the garage? If this
POS thing has it shut off at the panel, then you have to use your phone
to turn it on?

On Tue, 28 May 2019 12:12:39 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 12:34:57 PM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
"3,000 times faster than the fastest mechanical breaker, this
innovation could radically alter how we manage power."

Article:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a27557804/digital-circuit-breaker/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I haven't read PM for decades, but if this is representative of the crap
they publish now, boy have they gone way downhill.

"This new breaker makes power easier to manage and 3000 times faster than the fastest mechanical breaker, marking one of the most radical advancements in power distribution since Thomas Edison, next to Nikola Tesla."

They are actually comparing this POS to Edison and Tesla? Really?
I see no "breakthrough", it would seem to me that it's always been
straightforward to build a solid state breaker using power semiconductors
that would be thousands of times faster than a mechanical one. The
obvious issues are, who the hell needs one in their house, it's going
to cost many times more, and if you get hit with a surge, good chance
you're going to need thirty new digital breakers, while mechanical ones
likely survive.

I'm sure there are some applications that need breakers that are
3000 times faster than mechanical ones and I bet they already have them
too. But those special apps are not what this is apparently for.



"Picture the fuse box in your basement, each switch assigned to different electrical components of your home. These switches are designed to break a circuit to prevent the overloaded wires in your wall from overheating and causing a fire. When this happens, you plod down to your mechanical room and flick the switches on again."

Yes, imagine that, a trip to the panel once every couple years on the
rare occasion one trips. At least here. I suppose if you overload
everything, it could be different. But then I'd say the solution to that
is to fix the overloads, not make it so you can reset the breaker from
your iPhone.


"Now multiply that simple system in your home to city high rises and industrial buildings, which might have 250 circuit breakers on any given floor, each one ranging from 15 to 4000 amps at higher voltages. At this scale, the limitations and dangers of a manually controlled power system become much more evident€”and costly."

Really? Industry wants high amp breakers that you can reset from a phone?
Limitations? What happens when the Russians hack in and turn off your power?
I guess in situations where it's not so easy to get to breakers, this could
have an advantage, but I've never lived anywhere that was a problem.


€œInstead of using mechanics to switch the power, we apply digital inputs," Kennedy told Popular Mechanics. €œNow I have no moving parts. Now I have the ability to connect things like iPhones and iPads for remote power management, which increases safety and improves efficiency. I can set the distribution panel to a schedule so the
flow of power is seamless, unlimited, and shifts between sources automatically. You literally wouldnt notice. The lights wouldnt even flicker.€�


Yes indeed. Silly me, I never scheduled the power distribution here.
It already is seamless and essentially unlimited. Switching between
sources? WTF? Even homes that have solar, it is already seemless
and it doesn't switch, it's the solar is tied to the grid.
Obviously I've been doing something wrong all along.
What's also notable here is the above gibberish BS is given as a direct
quote from the CEO of the company.

Quite an amazing find. Wonder why they don't say how much this costs?
About all I can see this being good for is for time of day savings,
if your electric company offers it. You could use it to only activate
the electric water heater at night, or charge the car at night, for a
lower rate. But even there it's questionable. Isn't it better to have
the decision made at the car charger? You set it to charge primarily
at night, but if you come home empty and want to charge now, you can
easily do it by pushing a button at the charger in the garage? If this
POS thing has it shut off at the panel, then you have to use your phone
to turn it on?



That function was in our switcher power supplies 40 years ago. They
would shut down in a half cycle ... at 400 hz.