War of the Currents
  • Thomas Edison was a major contributor to the invention and the development of the domestic and industrial use of electricity.
  • Many of his inventions were patented to run off DC power and he maintained a good proportion of the electrical industry.
  • There are problems with the use of DC power however:
    • One was that the generators produced power through the use of commutators which converted the AC power to DC.
    • Commutators were not very efficient in high speed turbines and cause sparking and require more maintenance.
  • A competitor for the production of power was introduced by Nikola Tesla.
  • He originally worked for the Edison Electrical Company, however both Edison and the Company refused to pay Tesla after the completion of two projects.
  • After leaving the company, Tesla was offered $ 1 000 000 for the patent rights of his generators and motors by Westinghouse, an entrepreneur with an interest in the electric market.
  • In contention, Edison started an advertising campaign to warn of the dangers of AC electricity.
    • He attached a 1000 volt Westinghouse AC generator to a metal plate and killed many animals with it.
    • In addition to this he encouraged the use of AC power in the first electric chair.
      • Edison described the people who have died in these chairs as have been 'Westinghoused'.
      • However, this turned against Edison as the victims were often badly scarred and couldn't be removed easily, and others started to doubt his claims.
  • The competition ended as Westinghouse won a $ 100 000 prize and the contract for the Niagra Falls project.
  • AC being easily transformable and allowed electricity to be transported over longer distances, was easily superior to DC counterparts.
  • Most generators and inventions were then turned over to AC and is now used as a primary source of electrical energy today.