DC+

Tesla had the idea of using AC power to deliver electricity to the home more than a century ago. Today, all electronics, LED lights, and many appliances run on DC power. With every new TV, clock, computer, etc. a new AC/DC power converter or rectifier (wall wart) is created.

Our antiquated legacy of AC power forces each individual DC product to carry its own small inefficient rectifier that loses energy through heat and contributes to e-waste.

AC power is efficient for delivering power over a large power grid because of its ability to be transformed from high to low voltages without much loss. But, a single efficient home AC to DC converter attached to a home DC grid makes a lot of sense. Coupling this idea with delivering data over the same wires (through established IEEE Power over Ethernet standard), we can go from dumb power to a modern home power grid with DC+.

The dirty little secret that power is still running to your devices and chargers when they are not in use has been exposed. There are plenty of ideas around the elimination of these power “vampires” and finding ways to remind people to turn off power to devices not in use. But, if power and data can stream over the same wire, we can control the power flow and get information from any product or sensor to any other product on the grid or the internet. This means we could remotely, and in many cases automatically, shut off or power down any product, room or house. More importantly we can get actionable insights on ways to reduce wasted resources (electrical power, heat, light, water, etc.) from all the devices on a DC+ home power grid.

Also, as more sustainable DC power sources (solar, wind, fuel cells, etc) are incorporated into our homes we are forced into an inefficient process of converting that DC power to 110 AC, only to convert it back to DC for our electronics. Not only would DC+ eliminate those loses, its data capabilities would help manage these renewable power sources and their battery storage devices.