Buzz
Buzzzzz… What’s that sound?
I remember having a walk in a forest one day. Kids, our dog, nice weather, summer time, fresh air, birds singing… Anything more relaxing than this ?! It was perfect, until we started to hear a buzz…
Walking just a bit further, we realised where that sound was coming from.
It was a high voltage power line, at the edge of that forest. So, the next question was: “How are these electric cables, making that sound?” Here is what I found:
It is a phenomenon called “Corona Discharge“. Just imagine the electricity “jumping” through the air surrounding those high voltage power lines. The corona discharge is an electrical discharge that occurs when a fluid (like air) surrounding an electrically-charged conductor, becomes ionized. Like a mini lighting strike… And we all know that a lightning strike is generating sound, isn’t it ? The difference is that, in the corona’s discharge case, those “mini light strikes” are being generated according with the frequency of the current travelling in those power lines. Hence, the sound we hear is highly dependent on that frequency.
Ok. “So what?” Some people will probably say.
Well, that “Buzz” in the power lines, in fact, is nothing more than “energy loss”. And if we think that the energy being transported by those cables is generated by power plants using coal, for example, is not hard to understand how much carbon print that BUZZ lets behind it.
Under these circumstances, the best solution would be to use the electric energy as soon as it’s been generated, without having to “transport” it by using a physical grid, like the power lines.
And here, on VOLTPOT’s platform, I’ve found this unique concept of “Social Energy“. It is so simple and I wonder why we didn’t think about it earlier?! A “virtual battery”, a “Battery Cloud”, or any other name you could give to this innovative project, all in one, it sounds nothing more, to me, than “ENERGY EFFICIENCY”.
Using the electric energy, from the solar panels on our roof, even if we are far away from home… It’s just, amazing.
If you found this article useful, please share it with your friends. And if you know why the electric transformers are “buzzing”, leave a comment. Thank you!