Pop the hood of almost any car built in the last decade and you'll find a web of wiring that most people never think twice about. It's easy to assume all that wire is copper, since that's the default image most of us carry around in our heads. But spend some time talking to people...
Stand near a wind farm on a breezy afternoon and you'll notice the obvious part right away, those massive blades turning steadily against the sky. What you won't notice, because it's buried underground or tucked inside a tower, is the wiring network that actually gets all that generated power from the turbine to the grid....
Ask anyone who's placed a large aluminum order in the past few years, and they'll probably tell you the same thing: the price you get quoted this month might look completely different by the time you're ready to reorder. It's not random. Aluminum pricing moves the way it does because it sits at the crossroads...
When electricity has to travel across long distances, the conductor is doing much more than carrying current. It also has to deal with mechanical tension, wind, temperature changes, installation conditions, and the physical demands of the transmission route. That is why Aluminum Conductors used in overhead power transmission are available in several different constructions rather...