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[–] 28 points 2 years ago (1 child)

No, you can't.

The ground in a circuit doesn't dissipate energy


the energy gets dissipated elsewhere. That's what ground is: it's what we call the electrical part of a circuit where the energy has already been dissipated (I'm being a little casual with my electricity, but I think it's a valid statement nonetheless


ground is defined as the zero potential).

You can try this out by plugging a wire from hot to ground in your house (please don't do this). The energy gets dissipated in the wires. This is bad, because it is a lot of energy dissipated very quickly. Best case you throw the breaker. Worst case you burn down your house.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    You can run it through a very large grid of aluminum fins which get hot, and you know, I don't know, boil water with it or something to be used for uh, purposes, such as heated water. :)

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Yep absolutely


    a few kW? I can burn that no problem. A MW? Well...that takes a little more thought. A GW? That's a whole different ballgame.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Haha, thanks for taking my comment with humor and stride. Yeah, you're right. I still think having too much energy is a good problem to have overall.

    I do microsolar and when my batteries are full (rare), I just unplug them. The solar panels just sit baking in the sun, and then cool off at night.

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