380v vs 240v power

[James Knott]

Paul Nash wrote:
>> You don't appear to understand quite how our electrical system is
>> configured.  What we have here, is a 240V distribution network, with the
>> center point grounded.
> 
> This has got way off-topic, but that's only part of the story.  Without
> going into too much technicality (I last build big power grids in the early
> '80s, so the details are getting hazy), the major characteristic of the
> "not-North-America" approach is to use 3-phase power.
3-phase to homes elsewhere???  It's certainly used in business &
industry here.
> 
> The cool bit about 3-phase reticulation is that 3 x 100 amp feeder cables
> (the three phases) with *NO* neutral conductor, feeding a delta-wired
> transformer, will deliver 300 amps of useable current at the full rated
> voltage (distribution is usually 11kV; this gives 3.3MVA useable).

Another nice feature of 3 phase is constant power, no matter the phase
angle.
> 
> In a split-phase system, 2 x 100 amp feeders *with a 100amp neutral* (total
> of 3 x 100 amp cables) on an 11kV circuit will give a maximum of 1.1MVA, or
> a third of the power.
> 
> The North American system was designed as a kludge to be able to deliver
> 240V power to appliances like stoves and water heaters while still
> providing 120V power to most other devices.  If it *far* from optimal.
> 
> Having a grounded neutral and limited residual current protection are
> entirely separate debates, which would give European safety regulators an
> absolute field say.
> 
> To get this back on track, it's like the NTSC and PAL standards, which were
> butchered together to maintain backwards compatibility, or *gasp* *shock
> horror* *IT content* Windoze' various layers of backwards compatibility.
> 
> 	paul
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