Comments by "Scott Franco" (@scottfranco1962) on "The Problem with Solar Energy in Africa" video.

There is something wrong with the math here. You say DC lines have a cost to convert AC to DC and back. But solar power is inherently DC. The video makes it sound like AC-DC and DC-AC converters are needed at each end of the transmission cable, but the reality is the difference between converting DC to AC at the solar plant vs. DC to AC at the European end of the cable. IE., simply move the conversion to the European end of the cable and pick up DC efficiencies for no net cost differences. I suspect what is really meant here is the conversion by boosting the voltages of the lines up and down to the high voltages needed by the transmission line, but the explanation given does not make that much sense.
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@seneca983 And I pointed that out in my post. The point was the video was too simplistic in what it describes as the difference between costs of HVDC and HVAC feeds. Also, I seriously wonder if transformers are still a thing in HV stepping. Transformer use in small electronics is virtually gone. Your wall warts shrank to 1/4 of their former size by use of switching power supplies. This is done by high frequencies and use of capacitors instead of transformers, which are expensive and heavy because of the copper windings. PS switchers are why you can't get good AM reception anymore. All of the wall warts in your house are polluting the killohertz bands...
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@seneca983 Kinda amazes me how people won't do even basic lookups before opening their mouths on internet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current#Capacitor-commutated_converters_(CCC)
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