627
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You also use 120VAC which makes the current overload issue a lot worse.

Voltage inside of residences is 120v AC, but its 240v thats delivered to each house. I think a bigger difference is that in the USA that 240v AC is single phase where I believe (Germany included) many nations in the EU are 3 phase.

The USA does have 3 phase power for most commercial applications though.

[-] cynar@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

It's worth noting that this is talking about plug in solar, so would be at standard mains voltage.

1kw would be around 4A in Europe, but 8A in the USA. Also, since resistive losses scale with I^2 that's 4x the heat dumped in the walls.

At least in the UK, they tend to run 3 phase to a road, but only a single phase goes into a given house. You need to get a special hook up to get 3 phase to a domestic premise, and they don't like doing it.

[-] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

It’s worth noting that this is talking about plug in solar, so would be at standard mains voltage.

Thats fair.

At least in the UK, they tend to run 3 phase to a road, but only a single phase goes into a given house. You need to get a special hook up to get 3 phase to a domestic premise, and they don’t like doing it.

TIL about the UK electrical system. Thanks!

I'm at the edge of my knowledge but that sounds like it matches the USA system (for the number of phases).

this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
627 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

85110 readers
4335 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS