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A schematic representation of long distance electric power transmission. From left to right: G=generator, U=step-up transformer, V=voltage at beginning of transmission line, Pt=power entering transmission line, I=current in wires, R=total resistance in wires, Pw=power lost in transmission line, Pe=power reaching the end of the transmission line, D=step-down transformer, C=consumers.
The world's first public electricity supply was a water wheel driven system constructed in the small English town of Godalming in 1881. It was an alternating current (AC) system using a Siemens alternator supplying power for both street lights and consumers at two voltages, 250 V for arc lamps, and 40 V for incandescent lamps. [15]
Westinghouse Electric won the bid to light the Exposition with alternating current and it was a key event in the history of AC power, as the company demonstrated to the American public the safety, reliability, and efficiency of an alternating current system that was polyphase and could also supply the other AC and DC exhibits at the fair.
Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ [1]) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. [2] It is a type of polyphase system employing three wires (or four including an optional neutral return wire) and is the most common method used by electrical grids worldwide to transfer ...
Until then, electricity was usually generated where it was used. The first power-distribution systems installed in European and US cities were used to supply lighting: arc lighting running on very-high-voltage (around 3,000 V) alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC), and incandescent lighting running on low-voltage (100 V) direct ...
One voltage cycle of a three-phase system. A polyphase system (the term coined by Silvanus Thompson) is a means of distributing alternating-current (AC) electrical power that utilizes more than one AC phase, which refers to the phase offset value (in degrees) between AC in multiple conducting wires; phases may also refer to the corresponding terminals and conductors, as in color codes.
The speed at which the rotor spins in combination with the number of generator poles determines the frequency of the alternating current produced by the generator. All generators on a single synchronous system, for example, the national grid, rotate at sub-multiples of the same speed and so generate electric current at the same frequency. If ...
In an alternating current (AC) electric power system, synchronization is the process of matching the frequency, phase and voltage of a generator or other source to an electrical grid in order to transfer power. If two unconnected segments of a grid are to be connected to each other, they cannot safely exchange AC power until they are synchronized.