Direct Current B.V. is a highly innovative company and develops many projects on its own initiative. Its main purpose is to brighten the image of DC, and to make DC grids possible.

The greenhouse market is widely using HID lighting fixtures to illuminate the crops. When using supplemental lighting based on AC, a lot of energy is wasted in the conversion of AC into DC in each lighting fixture. This energy loss is converted into heat waste in each fixture. If the entire greenhouse would use DC, these losses would be reduced. By centralizing conversion of AC to DC in the greenhouse, instead of local conversion in each of the lighting fixtures, a lot of energy would be saved.

 

Direct Current B.V. is developing for the greenhouse market a DC version of the currently used HID ballast. The aim is to introduce DC to the greenhouse market in order to save as much energy as possible. Direct Current B.V. sponsors this project in the greenhouse market as well, and supports the technical infrastructure and the development of DC voltage lighting fixtures for the greenhouse.

The following organizations are also sponsors of this project. For more information, please visit the DC Foundation at www.gelijkspanning.org. In the Hague Univeristy, we have initiated a program in cooperation with the DC Foundation in order to motivate students to work with DC and to teach the subject of DC.

Direct Current B.V., InnoSys Delft B.V. , and TU Delft, invest, on their own title, in developing a new integrated drive system (drive train), sponsored by EL & I as a part of the HTAS Program by the Government.

The interpretation of the integrated system (drive train) is as follows:

The development should lead to a greatly improved drive-train in which all parts are aligned. These improvements should lead to:

• low pricing of components;
• reduction of components;
• high performance of the components;
• significantly improved reproducibility and availability of components;
• greatly improved ease of loading and better control of the system;
• a modular system with easy to replace defective parts.

As long as the above-mentioned objectives are not met, and the current situation maintains, this will form an obstruction to a broad market introduction of electric vehicle technology.