Why is voltage increased in cables?

Answer 1

good question it depends on the uses, some things you just need a energy storage set up if its not a constant use that way it has stored power with the incoming so its feeding the reserve n using off both so it doesn't drain your power n possible slow other device's down. that doesn't explain ( why increase volts ) but its a way you don't have to in some home uses.

Answer 2

Think of voltage in a wire as the speed of water in a pipe. If you want more water you could get a thicker pipe, or you could just increase the speed of the water. Increasing voltage is a way to get more electric capacity delivered without needing to make cables thicker or add more cables.

(Amps)x(Volts) = (Watts).

Amps correspond to the thickness of a cable. A house in the US typically has (100-200A)x(120V) coming into it. A high power electric transmission line will typically have 115,000V to 500,000V running through it, and this has to be stepped down to lower voltages by substations before it enters your house.

Answer 3

For beginner's:

Electricity is measured in Watts to get watts multiply Voltage and Amperage.

TO get a given amount of electrical energy out the far end of a wire you need both Amperage and Voltage.

Amps are how we measure and state electricity flow.

So if I put ten amps in at this end at 10 volts I am putting in 100 watts

At the far end if I get 10 Amps (this is flow so it will not change) and 8 Volts I am getting 80% of my energy out

If I put in 20 amps at 10 volts and I get 4 volts @ 20 amps I get about 40% of my energy out

If I change my input the other way 10 amps @ 20 volts I will get 16 volts or 80% of my energy out the far end (for this example)

This is called transmission loss and happens in every wire regardless of wire size.

Loosely stated if there is amperage in a circuit there is transmission loss.

To offset this you can:

• Increase the size of your wire, as you can imagine this can be very expensive
• Or you can lower the amperage required and raise the voltage, Again this can be very expensive as the height off the ground of very high voltage lines illustrates.

The engineers that design our power grid balance the cost of the transmission loss against the construction and maintenance costs of power lines.