Four years ago, I presented “The DC Powered Building” as part of the Smart Buildings Conference at Integrated Systems Europe, in which I explored how developing DC power infrastructure is a critical innovation in architectural systems. I made the point that for over 20 years of my career, every single product that had I specified on construction projects and every single product system that I developed for the built environment all fundamentally used DC power, yet our infrastructure remained AC. How would we ever advance innovations in commercial, hospitality, entertainment, residential or any other category of the built environment if we were stuck with such a cumbersome electrical infrastructure?

About 75 people saw my live presentation, yet the video of the presentation has slowly accrued over 6k views. Six thousand views is nothing by social media standards, except when you consider that my video covered an extremely niche topic in a nascent technical field. Under that lens, 6k views is a mind boggling number of viewers. Over the years, dozens of industry professionals have stumbled across that video and subsequentially reached out to me with incredible enthusiasm.

Switching our electrical infrastructure to DC power is a critical foundational innovation needed to support many other innovations in our built environment. I’ve led several innovation programs where DC power would have dramatically simplified development, from embedded lighting to digital surfaces to immersive digital experiences to truly sustainable lighting systems. If you’re wondering “how the heck do all those things tie together?” then I suggest watching my “Six Disruptive Trends” presentation I gave at the start of the decade.

It seems like DC power technologies are gaining more traction as of late, especially in the standardization of technical systems. I thought it might be a good opportunity to gather some of the recent pieces of the puzzle:

OPEN DC ALLIANCE

I noticed that Zumtobel Lighting is now actively engaged with a group called the Open DC Alliance (ODCA), apparently part of the German ZVEI electrical manufacturers association.

According to ODCA’s page: “We are a strong growing community of currently 68 member organizations from 10 countries. We provide a network of experts who focus on industry, electrical infrastructure, buildings, data centers and charging. We collaborate on regulation, standardization, technology, research and education in 6 working groups.”

SHIFT2DC

SHIFT to Direct Current (SHIFT2DC) is an Horizon Europe project coordinated by the Portuguese R&D Institute INESC-ID that aims to transform the way DC solutions are used in our power systems.

To do so, the project will count with the expertise of thirty-three partners, including affiliated and associated partners, from twelve countries. Together they will establish comprehensive guidelines and a roadmap for the widespread application of DC in diverse energy scenarios to develop, test and demonstrate the technical feasibility, cost-benefit, life cycle and environmental impact of the proposed DC solutions.

Shift2DC solutions and strategies will be tested in four demonstrators installed in three European countries: two across Germany (Datacenter and Industry), one in France (Building), and one in Portugal (Port) to test medium voltage DC (MVDC) and Low Voltage DC (LVDC) solutions.

CURRENT/OS

Current/OS is Current/OS is pioneering the energy transition by leveraging the disruptive technology of direct current, to promote energy efficiency and resilience.

Founded in 2021, with ABB, Eaton, Schneider Electric, Tridonic and UL Solutions on our board, Current/OS is a non-profit organization and a Liaison A member of the SyC LVDC IEC, with over 40 partners today across North America, Europe and Japan.

We are developing an ecosystem of partners who:

Develop and certify innovative DC products and services with new end-user value propositions: HVAC, elevators, lighting, home appliances; Cooperate to learn from real cases in order to accelerate their DC projects and plan ahead their organizations; Actively engage with trade groups and institutions to influence design specifications.

IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DC MICROGRIDS

In June 2025, ICDCM is a technical conference on DC microgrids.

ICDCM is a flagship conference of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) devoted to disseminating new ideas, research, and work in progress within the rapidly growing fields of DC microgrids. It will bring together researchers, engineers, and students from academia, government, and industry to discuss the latest advances in DC Grid Technologies and Applications. The conference’s objectives are to provide high-quality research and professional interactions between industry and academia to advance science, technology, and fellowship.

WHAT’S NEXT????

Are you working on DC power systems in commercial or residential projects, startups that use DC power, developing technical standards, etc.? PLEASE SHARE in the comments below what you are working on!