Exploring the Advantages of Alternating Current (AC)

A type of electrical power known as alternating current (AC) has been widely used in many businesses and residences around the world. It provides a number of advantages over its DC equivalent, making it the preferable option in many situations. In this post, we’ll examine the many advantages of AC, including its capacity for long-distance power transmission, usability and adaptability to a variety of device types.

Advantages of Alternating Current (AC)

The benefits of alternating current (AC) are:

1. Easy to step-up

Electrical energy is used for a variety of things today. Large amounts of electrical energy must be economically sent across great distances at high voltage. For a variety of reasons, it is hard to achieve a high voltage in direct current systems above a particular value. Higher voltages than those produced by direct current generators can be achieved using alternating current generators. Transformers make it simple to increase or reduce alternating voltage.

2. Easy to step-down

For measurement and utilization, the increased energy must also be decreased. Alternating current makes it feasible to accurately measure and use energy as well. Smaller versions of alternating current energy meters and household appliances are available.

3. High efficiency

Alternating current generators are more efficient than direct current generators and have a higher output power. As a result, it is possible to create larger production facilities and the turbine generator system’s efficiency rises as a result of the turbines’ improved performance at high rotation rates.

4. Low cost

Multi-phase alternating current asynchronous motors are easy to produce and are about half the cost of an equivalent direct current motor.

5. Less maintenance

AC motors require much less maintenance than direct current motors.

6. Conversion to direct current is easy

The alternating current is used to create the direct current. With the help of rectifiers or motor-generator groups, alternating electricity is brought near the point of use and converted to direct current. Rectifiers make it simple to change alternating current into the direct current but it is more difficult to change direct current into alternating current. Additionally, changing from AC to DC is less expensive than from DC to AC.

7. Small cable diameters

Large alternators are used in power plants to produce AC voltage. Transformers raise this AC voltage in order to reduce potential transmission line losses. The diameters of the conductors used in transmission lines are also reduced when the voltage is raised and the current is reduced.

8. Heat energy generation

We must first focus on the conductor resistances before discussing the heat effect of electrical energy. The diameter, length and resistivity of the material used to make each conductor all have an impact on its resistance. If this conductor is too tough for the electric current to flow through it, this difficulty causes the conductor to produce heat energy. In addition to typical heating appliances, arc furnaces and induction furnaces that employ three-phase electricity also use alternating currents.

9. Multi-phase options

Three phases are available in the AC system which is a desirable feature since it allows us to provide various locations with distinct phases and if a problem only affects one phase, the other two will continue to function, preventing a total power outage in all areas connected to the same supply.

10. Safety

Due to the current naturally reaching zero every half cycle with AC, interrupting the current is relatively simple and safe. A circuit breaker, for instance, can stop about 1/20th as much DC as AC. Additionally, AC produces less of an electrical arc when cutting off the power.