Same here in Sweden. A while ago I bought an LPS whose transformer hummed quite loudly. I contacted the manufacturer to ask for a replacement and he replied
So I decided to investigate. Over the course of a week I spot checked my mains voltage at least three times a day (in total 24 observations) and the bottom line was that it is remarkably stable.
As NL, Sweden adheres to EN 50160, so 230V ±10% (in other words between 207V and 253V). In practice the highest voltage I measured during the period was 234V (+1.7%) and the lowest was 229V (-0.4%).
I see. So, if I understand correctly what you’re saying; there’s too much power available on the Grid beyond what it can carry, and so the authorities raise the voltage levels in order to force the Solar panels to stop feeding more power to the grid.
Interesting. Wonder if they’re exploring local Energy Storage solutions?
They are currently indeed investing in huge battery compounds, to be installed in local areas.
Another solution comes from Germany. Unlike in the Netherlands, where the inverters clip when in overvoltage, thus shutting down a solar panel directly, in Germany they have the VDE4105 standard, a kind of soft-clipping mechanism, which causes a solar panel to gradually shut down.
Yeah, I know them as one of many electricity suppliers in the free-for-all market that is The Netherlands. Didn’t know they are also a (green) electricity producer.
Interesting related Bloomberg article yesterday covering the US and the impact of living near data centres on power quality. The article suggests that residents in e.g. Chicago area, Dallas and Northern Virginia are facing more ‘bad harmonics’ in their power supply and the increasing data centre (in particular AI data centres) footprint is seen as likely culprit.
The analysis was measured through Whisker Labs Ting devices, which track total harmonic distortion inside individual homes. Curious, anyone here on the forum using such a device to measure the power quality in your US home?
I cannot answer that but if the harmonic distortion is particularly bad the transformers in your equipment may issue a mechanical hum ( i.e. not through your loudspeakers).
There have been devices for audio enthusiasts such as the Noise Sniffer ( still available?). You plug it into your mains outlets. However I borrowed one once and found it pretty infective, though I am not in the US. If you have an oscilloscope you can use that.
I suspect that many are simply borrowing mains cleaning devices and seeing if they find an improvement. There are various types so read your dCS guarantee before choosing.
Generally speaking, I believe the Power Supply Units of dCS components are far superior to any of the typical consumer electronics discussed in the article when it comes to rectifying the incoming AC power. For example the epoxy-potted transformers that dCS makes, dramatically reduces transformer noise/hum.
However, I’m sure some AC conditioning under those circumstances can’t be bad idea.
ps:
Amazon and Google added about 400 MW of data center capacity around Columbus, OH, this year, the most of anywhere in the country.
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