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Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain
Off the bat alternating current deals much better with resistance then DC. It's one of the reasons the power company uses it.
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This is one of the more confusing myths. The power company uses AC because you can use a transformer to increase voltage. DC power does not pass through a transformer and there is no efficient method of increasing a DC voltage at the power levels we are discussing. For a device consuming 1kW, it doesn't matter whether that is 100 volts DC or 100 volts AC RMS at 10 amps, the power delivered to the load is the same.
For a specific power, using a higher voltage reduces current. Reducing current reduces IR losses and the resistance in miles of delivery cable is devastating to power companies. Imagine delivering 100 MW (100,000,000 watts) at 1000 volts or at 100,000 volts.