As more of our economy electrifies, power distribution becomes a bigger part of the story. Electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, data centres, smart buildings and digital devices all change what electrical infrastructure needs to do. They also change the way we should think about energy inside a site.
For decades, alternating current (AC) has been the backbone of electricity systems. It remains essential, particularly for moving power over long distances. But many of the technologies now driving demand use direct current (DC) at the point of use.
A phone, laptop or television takes AC from the wall and converts it to DC before it can use the power. An EV battery stores DC, and a fast charger delivers DC directly to the vehicle. Solar panels and batteries also operate in DC.
However, the system is not without inefficiencies. Each time power is converted from AC to DC, there is typically a 5-10% energy loss. In a single device, that loss may not seem significant. Across a large facility, a bus depot, a hospital fleet, a data centre or a multi-site operation, it becomes part of the efficiency equation.
This is why the shift from AC to DC should be understood as a practical infrastructure trend, not a distant technical debate. It’s not about replacing AC everywhere. It’s about designing the right architecture for the right application.
Electric bus depots are a useful example. A depot is not simply a place where chargers are installed. It’s a working energy system. Buses need to return on schedule, charge within defined windows and be ready for service again. If the charging system fails, it becomes a public disruption – not a private inconvenience.
In many electric depot environments, the traditional model distributes AC power across the site and converts it to DC at each charging point. Each conversion introduces energy losses – which, is significant when compounded across multiple chargers. As fleets scale, the opportunity to rethink the underlying architecture becomes increasingly compelling.
If power can be converted from AC closer to where it enters the facility, then distributed as DC to the chargers, Schneider Electric analysis indicates, we can realise efficiency gains of up to 20–30%.
The same principle will become relevant in other settings. Data centres are already accelerating this conversation because high-density computing pushes power requirements to power unprecedented levels – often exceeding 60 kW per rack and, in some cases, moving toward megawatt-scale systems.
The investment going into AI infrastructure is helping advance technologies that can later support other sectors, from EV charging and commercial buildings to homes with solar, batteries and connected appliances.
This is how energy technology often develops. A demanding use case pushes the technology forward. Over time, the learnings move into more everyday environments.
For Australia, the opportunity is to prepare early. Electrification will not be accelerated by appliances alone. A charger, a battery or an EV is only the visible part of the system. Behind it sit switchboards, cabling, transformers, protection systems, software, load management and energy data. Those elements determine whether electrification is reliable, efficient and scalable.
Load management will be especially important. A building does not have the same available capacity at every hour of the day. Solar output changes. Air conditioning demand rises and falls. Lifts, equipment and other systems draw power at different times. More fundamentally, energy is not used or delivered without loss – transmission and distribution losses alone typically range between 8% and 20%, reducing the effective capacity available at the point of use. Intelligent load management helps decide when and how much power can be directed to vehicles, batteries or other loads without overloading the site.
That capability matters in critical environments. A hospital fleet vehicle may need priority charging. A bus may need to return to service quickly. A commercial fleet may need to charge when tariffs are lower. These decisions cannot be managed well through static infrastructure alone. They need digital visibility and control.
The future of electrification will require electrification, automation and digitalisation to work together. It will require hardware that can handle changing loads, software that can optimise performance and partners that understand how energy moves from the grid connection through to the final application.
There is also work to do beyond technology. Standards, product certification, switchboard design, installer capability and building design will need to evolve as DC applications expand. That is normal in any major infrastructure transition. The important point is to begin that work before demand is overwhelming existing systems.
Australia has a strong foundation to build on. More than 4 million homes – around one in three households – already have rooftop solar, making Australia a global leader in distributed energy. Over 185,000 homes have battery systems installed, and EV vehicles account for more than 10% of new car sales. And investment in digital infrastructure is expanding significantly, with billions of dollars flowing into data centres and AI-driven infrastructure.
The next step is to connect these pieces more intelligently.
The energy transition will be easier to scale when every site is designed with the future in mind. That means thinking beyond the immediate appliance and considering the full electrical architecture. It means making room for new loads, new sources of energy and new ways of managing power.
AC built the electricity system we rely on today. DC will play a growing role in the systems now being added to it. The task ahead is to bring those worlds together carefully, practically and at scale.
That is how electrification moves from ambition to everyday operation.
Author: Tim Pratt, Pacific Vice President, Power Products, Schneider Electric
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine.
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