It seems kind of primitive to have power lines just hanging on poles, right?
Bit unsightly too
Is it just a cost issue and is it actually significant when considering the cost of power loss on society (work, hospital, food, etc)?
It seems kind of primitive to have power lines just hanging on poles, right?
Bit unsightly too
Is it just a cost issue and is it actually significant when considering the cost of power loss on society (work, hospital, food, etc)?
AC lines would get large capacitance losses being buried vs. overhead. ElectroBOOM explains why in his vid about high-voltage DC lines starting at this point in the vid.
Granted this is at high voltages in the five-digit range and beyond, and I’m not sure how much that would matter at 240V split-phase that homes typically get in North America*, but that’s a technical reason why power lines are still overhead regardless; it’s more efficient and with less capacitance losses to have overhead power lines spaced far apart than to bury them.
*Yes, really, I meant what I said, North American homes still get 240V, but it’s split down the middle; 120V circuits for things like lighting and such, and normal devices that you plug into a NEMA-5 outlet such as portable space heaters, use a single hot line and a neutral line while 240V circuits for high-powered appliances like clothes dryers, ovens, HVAC systems, and things of that nature, use both hot lines, and optionally neutral in addition for things in, say, an oven or a dryer that only need 120V such as lighting, while the heating elements need 240V in those applications.
I’ll also add that maintenance of underground infrastructure is more costly than above ground.