History — Distribution of Energy for Lighting
Electricity has made our lives easier, better, brighter and cleaner. Electricity is usually generated at power plants and then passed on to high-voltage power lines, which in turn distributed to our homes and businesses with the help of local power lines. Electricity distribution is the final stage when electricity is delivered. We will study on how the distribution of electricity has evolved over the years.
History of Distribution of Electricity
In the year 1882, the famous inventor and pioneer in electrical engineering, Thomas Edison, was the first to build the electricity distribution system in the U.S. This system was capable of carrying power from Pearl Street Station in lower Manhattan to a few people within one square mile of the radius. During those days, the electricity delivering from Pearl Street was regarded as a small operation electric company given the capability of generator used. Edison had a similar work model which he carried out in the same year in London. The electricity related work carried out by Edison in 1882 gave rise to the first ever patents. On switching the power button, Edison noticed that 52 light bulbs lit up for the first time in New York Times office. On noticing the light for the first time, the Times office editors described Edison’s work as “Soft, mellow and pleasing to the Eye without causing any kind of a headache”. The work carried out by Edison became groundbreaking for the first time which replaced the practice of burning candles and lamps. Edison’s distribution system made lighting cleaner, safer and more pleasant.
Edison’s work on electrical items was altered for the enormous effort, and cost related to developing distribution network. The total cost of setting up a station and local distribution network was around $300,000 in the small area of lower Manhattan powered by Pearl Street by using 100,000 feet of underground wires. The concept used by Pear Street gave rise to innovators to come up with different type of systems. However, in the late 1880s, Edison distribution systems was vulnerable to its competitors like Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse (owner of many electrical engineering companies) and others as their systems were more flexible and affordable. One of the main reasons for this is that Edison’s system used direct current (DC) while its competitors used alternating current (AC) systems. If compared between the two, AC systems have numerous advantages over DC systems. Example, AC technology is cheaper and allows power companies to use the same power to provide electricity to houses and other offices which require low-voltage power and to factories that demanded high-voltage power. This led to the closure of Pearl Street station in 1895, as AC technology systems became more efficient systems. On the other hand, DC technology is quite rare and still exists.Example, mobile phones and computers require DC power hence there is a need of AC adapter to convert the socket power to DC to the device. There are batteries that supply DC to many transport systems running on DC-powered units.
How is Electricity distributed?
Electricity is first generated at power plants and then moves through complex systems called grids, with the help of electricity substations, transformers and power lines that connect electricity producers and consumers. Most of the local grids are interconnected to make it reliable and as means of commercial purpose. Once electricity is produced, it moves along a high-voltage transmission system by coming off a transmission grid where the voltage is reduced by equipment called transformers. During this process electricity generated has a voltage of around 765,000 volts, which is then reduced down to under 50,000 volts. Once the voltage is reduced, it is then provided to our homes and business offices.
How does transformer help in reducing the voltage of electricity?
Transformers consist of 2 main cores, which are wrapped with copper wiring along with an electromagnetic field present between them. Inside the transformer, the power travels through one of the core and then leaves through the other one. During this period, it results in change in the voltage of the electricity. It sounds simple; however, high-voltage transformers are expensive and weigh hundreds of tons. Low voltage electricity is then distributed to our houses and local offices with the help of local distribution power lines. Before the electricity enters our homes, it enters the transformer to reduce its own voltage. For factories and large-scale industries, the voltage required is usually high in the range of 4000 to 13,000 volts. The power received by residential and commercial customers is low and in the range of 120 to 240 volts.
Electricity meters used by homes and businesses
Once the electricity has reached its destination, it has to run through a meter to generate bills. Traditional meters used to be in the form of electromechanical device which measures the electricity as it passes through. A person would be required to read the meter in order to generate the bill. However, meters installed today are highly advanced and technical. This type of meters is referred to as ‘Smart Meters’ and these meters do not require a meter-reader to check the bill cycle. Smart Meters are advanced and incorporate information technology to allow the various electrical components of the power grid (power generators, consumers and distributors) to communicate more effectively. The communication between different parts of the grid is referred to as ‘Smart grid’. This grid is now becoming smarter with the help of new technology. Example, if a customer chooses to change the consumption pattern (if they wish to) then smart grid allows them by reacting and adjusting to real-time prices in the wholesale power market. Smart grid also detects grid abnormalities or any kind of outages for electrical engineering companies and power companies. Please do note that replacing your existing grid with the ‘smarter’ one can be expensive, and can make the grid highly sensitive to future cyber security threats.
One must not forget innovators like Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse. It is because of them we have powerful electricity distribution systems and electrical companies in Pune. But constant improvements should be done to make electricity reliable and affordable for our future.