HVDC

Although the United States also has the geographic scale and technical capacity for HVDC, it has been slow to adopt the technology.

It has a smart AC/HVDC output plug, two USB ports in case you want to also charge your phone and iPad at the same time, can transfuse power from the sun and can light up a small home if you happen to need to do that, too.

South Korea, China, Japan and the Scandinavian nations were early adopters of HVDC: the U.S. has projects underway as well.

With HVDC, conversions can be reduced, and DC grids can also more easily manage the variable output that occurs, say, when a storm blows through or the wind dies.

Now, more than 145 projects using high-voltage DC, known as HVDC, are under way worldwide.