Comment by delichon
2 years ago
This could become a major power draw over decades. It's probably time to figure out a protocol. E.g. a cheap light small low power meter on the drone that can post the transaction to the electric company while in flight, signals to designate power lines as in or out of the system and their current price, etc. Solar roof owners could compete with the utilities. There are unicorns hiding in this forest.
The vampires will be the charging drones that aren't associated with a transaction. So it's about as enforceable as a requirement that drones have accurate identifier transponders.
If I was the power distribution owner I would not trust the drone meters. Probably would need some type of load profiling on the distribution side, then all the drone has to do is authenticate a valid customer id for billing.
> If I was the power distribution owner I would not trust the drone meters.
Understandable.
> then all the drone has to do is authenticate a valid customer id for billing
I mean you can ask for anything, but how do you police it? If the drone is by a recognisable entity doing legitimate things sure you can fine them if they don’t comply. But what do you do with literal fly-by-night operators?
As with anything, you can't police it at this scale, at least not until we have mandated brain implants that monitor our every thought and action.
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Who cares? If they don’t want their power drawn they need to be burying their powerlines anyway.
Cost of undergrounding power lines is large. Especially over the distribution network (in that there is a lot more of it over space)
On the other hand, hung lines have a tendency to fall down, get tangled in trees, and start forest fires, so the cost of above ground lines is also high...
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See this is the thing: people complain about the little bit of power being eaten up by drones. But if power companies really cared, they’d bury their powerlines.
They really don’t care. It’s a rounding error.
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Alternatively
Who cares? If they don’t want their oil siphoned they need to be burying their pipelines anyway.
Most would agree that unauthorized draws from common infrastructure resulting in loss is theft.
I feel like I would be more sympathetic to this argument if my utility provider wasn’t PG&E.
Theft, yes, how serious? Not very. Basically a rounding error for the power company. They likely see higher loses from things like fence lines installed near power lines.
In which case the earth itself can steal the power, in addition to making your electric bill 500 times higher from the capital cost required to bury millions of miles of transmission network.
I'd assume buried lines would be HVDC rather than AC which effectively eliminates the loses from burying.
Power company can install a mesh or net over lines, to prevent sitting on them, or use another drone to inspect lines and direct a man with a shotgun.