Quote:
Originally Posted by BigChiefTablet
I wasn't trolling. I could certainly imagine inefficient solar and wind collectors, and inefficient transformers causing a loss of power from the source. But once converted, I really couldn't imagine different qualities of electricity because volts times amps equals watts and it's not like getting a bad tank of gas at the Quick Trip.
Line loss over large distances can be a factor, which is why power companies run their lines at such high voltage, but I still can't see how they could lose power by accepting a customer's excess. But I admit I don't really know ****all about it.
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The problem is that we transmit power through Alternating Current instead of DC, the power companies have very specific requirements on the properties of that alternating current, and if this mysterious unexpected current that some random dude dumps into their lines does not precisely match what they are sending, it screws things up.
If you want to use solar panels without a surcharge, then you should really cut yourself off the grid, or at least segregate whatever those panels are powering so that those devices you choose to hook up to solar are only solar powered and not connected at all to the utility.