That DC might as well be AC since it is not as stable as you'd like. Consider th... | Hacker News

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		artificialidiot on July 22, 2014 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: An open competition to build a smaller power inver... That DC might as well be AC since it is not as stable as you'd like. Consider this, you have a DC source 5-15V and want to run a usb gadget from it. You still need a regulator between the wall plug and the device. Why not make it compatible with AC grid so your kitchen appliances don't need their own inverters each?

mindslight on July 22, 2014 [–]

It's a lot easier to build a converter that steps down from 15V with a shared ground, than from 170V that requires isolation.

Of course, house distribution wouldn't be done with 15V, the lowest it'd probably be is 48V.

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