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Hitachi to double US production of small and medium-sized power transformers

37 points · 20 comments · JumpCrisscross

  1. jakedata · · focus · HN ↗
    I read about Solid State Transformers <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.powermag.com&#x2F;the-solid-state-shift-reinventing-the-transformer-for-modern-grids&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.powermag.com&#x2F;the-solid-state-shift-reinventing-t... with some interest. However they have some weird failure modes. At least large chunks of metal twisted around large chunks of a different metal are predictable and don&#x27;t need firmware updates.

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu&#x2F;II_16.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu&#x2F;II_16.html

    1. ahartmetz · · focus · HN ↗
      Solid state transformers are a misnomer: Traditional transformers are already solid state - no moving parts. And SSTs do the actual voltage &#x2F; current transformation using a smaller, higher frequency traditional transformer. A more appropriate name for SSTs would be high frequency transformers or IF (intermediate frequency) transformers or something.
      1. algo_trader · · focus · HN ↗
        What&#x27;s the top V these cretins will reach? Can they reach 10-20kV? Can they be &quot;stacked&quot; ?

        IIUC the real bottleneck is in transmission (&gt;50kv) not distribution transformers.

        1. ahartmetz · · focus · HN ↗
          It seems like solid-state transformers aren&#x27;t entirely stupid - they can be smaller and lighter and control phase angle (to control power flow direction and power factor) like HVDC connections do. But their efficiency is less than the 98-99% of the traditional big hunks of copper and steel, so until that improves, they likely won&#x27;t see widespread use.
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