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| Why are high voltage transmission wires not insulated |
Why are high voltage transmission wires not insulated
You may notice when passing by high-voltage power line poles that the wires are completely bare and not insulated. So, why aren’t they covered with insulating material? The reason comes down to two main factors:
First Reason:
As we all know, high-voltage power lines transmit electricity ranging from 12,000 volts to 765 kilovolts. This is an immense amount of electrical energy. To insulate these wires, they would require an insulating layer with a thickness of up to 17 centimeters. Covering all these power lines with such material would result in extremely high costs.
Second Reason:
Insulating the power lines would significantly increase their weight, in addition to the weight of the wires themselves, which stretch for thousands of kilometers. Moreover, there is a risk of fire due to the large amount of electrical energy carried by the wires.