Tesla and Westinghouse
In 1890 near Ophir, Colorado, The Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant, was the world's first commercial system to produce and transmit alternating current electricity for industrial use - and one of the first AC hydro-electric plants ever constructed.
In 1895, the Niagara Falls Power Company opened, an AC hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls designed Tesla and within a year, sent alternating current (AC) to Buffalo, NY, 25 miles away, thanks to Tesla AC generators.
Cities throughout the world followed suit and made commercial AC power available to the general public.
INikola Tesla:
Tesla played a crucial role in the development of the alternating current (AC) systems that were essential for transmitting electricity over long distances. His work on AC motors and generators provided the technological foundation for the power station.
George Westinghouse:
Westinghouse was a prominent industrialist and inventor who championed the use of AC power. He provided the financial backing and business acumen necessary to develop and implement the Niagara Falls hydroelectric project. His company, Westinghouse Electric, manufactured the generators and other electrical equipment based on Tesla's designs.
Charles F. Scott:
An engineer at Westinghouse, Scott was instrumental in designing the transformers and distribution systems that made the transmission of AC power from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, New York, feasible.
William Stanley:
Another engineer who worked with Westinghouse, Stanley developed key components of the AC distribution system, including transformers that allowed the efficient transmission of electricity over long distances.
Edward Dean Adams:
A financier and president of the Cataract Construction Company, Adams played a significant role in organizing the funding and construction of the hydroelectric project at Niagara Falls.
It was October 12 1887 when Nikola Tesla filed a patent in New York on an "electric magnetic motor".
This application claimed the invention of an AC motor and also a new system of power transmission. The patent was granted 1 May 1888.
Tesla's patent application (#381,968]), he made clear the need for a new electrical conversion and transmission system.
Tesla's system would solve three major problems.
1/. His motor could produce a uniform speed irrespective of its load.
2/. it was cheaper, simpler, and more reliable than existing systems.
3/. it was easy to maintain, reducing the hazards of high tension currents.
By eliminating the need for a commutator — it stayed spinning in one direction... instead of switching directions. A new kind of alternating current (AC) motor that instead of using a mechanical switch - a rotating magnetic field spun the rotor used to convert electrical energy into mechanical power. With this innovation, alternating current could be generated efficiently.
Tesla read a paper before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers at Columbia University on May 16, 1888. “A New System of Alternate-Current Motors and Transformers".
Tesla sold his invention to the Westinghouse Electric Company, and I believe paved the way for Tesla to generate Hydro power from Niagra Falls.
AC soon became the standard for powering homes and offices in the United States. This must have disturbed Tesla's rival inventor Thomas Edison so much that Edison electrocuted an elephant to show how dangerous AC was.
Nikolar Tesla - inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist.
