How to Use direct current in a Sentence

direct current

noun
  • Phase one also included providing direct current fast chargers within one mile of the highway for every 50 miles of road.
    — Hedija Spahalic, Dallas Morning News, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Most new direct current transmission lines in the extra-high-voltage grid should be built above ground, according to a draft law from the economy ministry seen by Bloomberg.
    — Petra Sorge, Bloomberg, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Edison’s genius was less in his lab notebooks — his beloved direct current turned out to be a loser in our alternating-current world — than in his grasp of network effects and utility.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 21 Aug. 2025
  • This will take more than undersea cables and high voltage direct current lines capable of transmitting power over long distances with minimal leakage.
    — Yew-Poh Mak, Fortune, 26 Nov. 2025
  • The link is one of the most innovative high-voltage direct current (HVDC) projects in Europe.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 7 May 2026
  • After the voltage is reduced, a set of lower-voltage devices converts this still-high-frequency AC current back to a direct current.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 29 June 2017
  • So the inertia discourse was in part a discussion of how to incorporate direct current sources such as photovoltaics into an AC grid.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 16 June 2025
  • Earlier this year, researchers in the United Kingdom showed that stimulating the brain with mild direct currents helped people stop stuttering.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 6 July 2018
  • As the pendulum swings back and forth with the animal’s movement, the ring creates an alternating current in the coil—and a voltage-doubling circuit transforms it into direct current.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 1 Nov. 2023
  • This energy storage device uses a magnetic field created by the flow of direct current in a coil of superconducting material.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2023
  • This capability comes from the broadband nature of Rydberg atoms, which can operate from direct current to terahertz frequencies.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 6 June 2026
  • Photovoltaic panels are made from silicon cells that generate direct current electricity when sunlight excites electrons.
    — Dianne Plummer, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Superconductors are only completely lossless for direct current.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 26 June 2025
  • The researchers then connected the bulbs to a 110-volt (V) direct current power supply, based on the original setup, and powered them for roughly 20 seconds.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Electricity comes in two basic flavors, direct current where the electrons simply flow through the conductors and alternating current where the polarity is constantly changing.
    — Sam Abuelsamid, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • This smart machine converts the alternating current (AC) from power plants and local grids into direct current (DC), which flows steadily in one direction.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 28 Dec. 2025
  • Electricity undergoes multiple conversions, moving from high-voltage direct current into high-frequency magnetic fields before being captured and stabilized on board.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 6 May 2026
  • SiC modernizes grid-to-server power conversion with breakthrough efficiencies utilizing high-voltage direct current transmission and solid-state transformers.
    — Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 1 June 2026
  • The facility will include arrays of solar panels that will generate capacity of 90 megawatts of alternate current and 127 megawatts of direct current electricity.
    — Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Dec. 2025
  • These transparent solar panels generate direct current electricity that supplies 25 percent of the building’s daily energy needs while minimizing energy loss.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Ford provides a North American Charging Standard adapter so drivers can access the Tesla Supercharger network along with other direct current fast chargers.
    — Charles Singh, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025
  • The cause of the problem is the inverter, an electronic system that converts the direct current (DC) supplied by the PV panels into the alternating current (AC) that flows on the power grid.
    — Benjamin Kroposki, IEEE Spectrum, 20 Oct. 2016
  • The battery generates a continuous flow of direct current (DC) electricity, without relying on additional external energy sources.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 20 Apr. 2026
  • The device interrupts currents of 1,400 volts in less than 50 microseconds—a speed essential for protecting next-generation direct current (DC) power systems.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 7 Aug. 2025
  • And in March, Texas Instruments unveiled in a statement its new 800V direct current power architecture solution for next-generation AI data centers.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
  • When the battery is fully charged, a microcontroller—an electronic device programmed to control other devices—triggers an inverter that converts the battery’s direct current (DC) power to alternating current (AC) power.
    — Munis Raza, Interesting Engineering, 24 Mar. 2026
  • As a result, few studies detail how technologies that efficiently move power over thousands of kilometers, such as ultrahigh-voltage direct current (UHV DC) systems, might perform in North America.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 12 Sep. 2019
  • Their certified solution is a next-generation propulsion system that uses medium-voltage direct current (MVDC) to optimize power distribution, minimize energy loss, and enhance the overall efficiency of ship operations.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 8 Aug. 2025
  • Energy Storage Unlike conventional batteries, which use chemicals to store energy, superconducting magnetic-energy storage (SMES) uses a magnetic field created by the flow of direct current in a coil of superconducting material.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2023
  • Ford Motor — Shares were recently down about 1%, but the stock spiked in early trading after Ford Energy and EDF power solutions North America announced a five-year agreement to produce up to 4gigawatt hours of direct current Block Battery energy storage systems annually.
    — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 18 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'direct current.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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