Contents:

• Battle for electrification of the US
• Who was Nikola Tesla - The Wizard?
• Direct current, our future?

Battle for electrification of the US

According to the population census in the year 1890, the US had 62,947,714 residens. Two powerful men came up with the clever business idea to equip each household with the recently invented light bulbs: Thomas Alva Edison and George Westinghouse. The prerequisite was however that America would be supplied with electric wiring and a system that would be secure, easy to control, cover as much area as possible and guaranteed affordable prices for everyone. However, whose power supply system would be the best choice? Since the two rivals could not agree to cooperation, the States became witness to a merciless patent lawsuit.

What was the war of currents about?

Electricity is a natural occurrence like flashes of lightning prove for example. There is an overwhelming power that must be kept under control if it shall be harnessed and made usable. Taming this force of nature and turning it into a safe, applicable current flow was first done successfully by scientists in 1830. Thanks to underground copper wires that even lead into the homes of wealthy New Yorkers illuminated homes with the first electric lights (carbon filament) and replaced dangerous gas lamps. With patent US 223898 Edison secured his ”Electric Lamp”, resulting from checking and improving previously existing inventions.

What is important to understand the following legal dispute is that Edison insisted on a DC power grid. His generators constantly maintained a voltage of 110 Volts which always ran into one direction (direct current) through copper wires. The power produced in the generator had to be distributed to houses and factories which actually posed a serious problem back in the day. The strength of transmission only covered a few hundred metres, anything else required thicker and considerably more expensive copper cables. It was a costly and laborious undertaking to set up an individual generator (and meter reader) on each street, however Edison was prepared to put up with this if it meant his idea would be accepted. Direct current offered from an external source provided security that could not be guaranteed by alternating technologies at that time. Alternate current changes it direction of flow several times per second and can be transported over long distances. The voltage can be amended as well to be used for different applications in domestic or professional environments. The drawback of AC was that light bulbs were flickering due to the change of flow direction. For that reason, alternating current could not be used to power motors.

The competition for the best mains supply began when alternating current was successfully kept consistent despite the change of flow direction. This was first done in the year 1888 based on a brilliant motor construction by Nikola Tesla. George Westinghouse (Westinghouse Electric) immediately saw a chance and secured patents of Tesla’s motor, becoming a direct competitor of Edison (General Electric). The first person to have their power grid implemented on a large scale would not only earn a fortune with the sale of millions of patented light bulbs but would also have direct influence on countless electric household appliances.

 

1888 Physicist Nikola Tesla presents his alternating current motor and applies for 22 valuable patents. G. Westinghouse purchases these patents and initiates production.

1890 Use of alternating current for the electric chair during Edison’s smear campaign against AC

1893 The international world exhibition in Chicago is illuminated by alternating current, culmination of the war of currents. Power transmission from Niagara hydro stations with AC power lines.

1895 First alternating current power station on the Niagara river based on Tesla concept (victory of the war of currents)

AC power plants had a better coverage, were more affordable (thanks to thinner copper cables) and generators could be erected outside the city where land price was cheaper. Edison however was not somebody to give up easily, he had invested too much into his own system. The conflict about billions continued without mercy. Initially, Edison filed a lawsuit against Westinghouse for infringement of his electric lamp patent. Seeing that he had good relations to newspapers he encouraged reports about how dangerous and fatal alternating current could be. As if this was not enough already, executions of pets, calves and even elephants by electrocutions through alternating current were held publicly. Edison warned people of implementing this source of energy in nurseries, his direct current would be much safer (which is not exactly true). Within the scope of these campaigns the electric chair was invented and powered by alternating current. Edison himself suggested to name the act of using the chairs “to westinghouse” which thankfully never became an established term.

Despite all disparagement the alternating current system was simply the cheaper solution. Westinghouse was able to secure a tender for the lighting supply for world exhibition in Chicago because his proposal was considerably more affordable than Edison’s offer. The war of currents ended in 1893 when 200,000 lamps provided illumination of the exhibition grounds along with an audience of 30 million. At the end of his career, Edison did admit that his insistence on a direct current power supply was a big mistake.

⮩ There is a reason why George Westinghouse is not very commonly acknowledged as an inventor – the 1907 Bankers’ Panic. A fatal financial crisis of the New York Stock Exchange causes him to lose position of director in his own company. Nowadays, Westinghouse Lighting is lead by Ray Angelo who presents new inventions on the market for lighting and ceiling fans.
 

Engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla was born on 10 June 1856 in what is now Croatia. Through a job in Paris he received a recommendation to Thomas Edison and with four cents in his pockets he moved to America. He found employment at Edison General Electric and later at the Westinghouse Company. When Tesla realised that Westinghouse main focus was on the sale of products he left the business world to fully dedicate himself to his research. The implementation of his inventions was mostly left to others. According to his own records his goal was advancement of humankind. His drive did not lay in material accomplishments. Of all the possessions he had a book was always his favourite. He also had no intention of selling his power at a high price, but to “harness the wheelwork of nature”.

In the end the European inventor came to the US hoping to work on his ideas and became a pawn in the battle of the currents between Edison, Westinghouse, Marconi and others. According to a quote it was not the unauthorised use of his patents that worried him, but rather the lack of ideas from everyone else. Tesla’s ingenuity appeared to be limitless, he made a significant contribution to radio technology, invented the neon tube and researched x-rays. Until an old age he continued to work on a method of wireless power transmission which he sadly had to abandon after banker J.P. Morgan ceased his sponsoring.
Nikola Tesla is surrounded by countless legends and myths – he is said to have been brilliant and eccentric. For example, he adored the cross totals 3, 6 and 9 and preferred food with an appealing mathematical volume. Germs, contamination and pearls (including women with pearl jewelry) frightened him. Because of his sensational public presentations he was also called The Wizard. His friend Mark Twain often helped out during these demonstrations. Tesla had artificial lightning flow through his body, sometimes flames surrounded his head – today this would unthinkable.

Some of his visions and statements made Tesla an outsider even amongst his colleagues, for instance he tried to disprove Einstein’s theory of relativity. All his life he was somewhat of a lone wolf without a family. Tesla passed away on 7 January 1943 in the New Yorker hotel.
 

Direct current, our future?

Nowadays, the remote transmission of direct current is not a problem anymore. That is why a worldwide direct current supply is discussed and researched more. During Edison’s time the biggest problem was the transmission over long distances. State-of-the-art superconductors can be cooled down to -196°C and transfer precious energy over long distances without any loss.

In this day and age many small electric appliances require direct current, e.g. smartphone batteries (and our energy-saving DC ceiling fans) are equipped with a transformer. You might have noticed that batteries become warm to the touch during charging. This is unnecessary loss of energy that would not happen with DC power grids. According to experts high-voltage direct-current transmission can save up to ten percent energy.

Furthermore, this would also be an option for heating systems in buildings. Solar technology is on the rise, photovoltaic plants produce direct current instead of alternating current. 125 years after what seemed to be the end, direct current is becoming a promising option again.

Books and movies about this topic:
Thriller: Graham Moore "The Last Days of Night"
Novel: Anthony McCarten "Brilliance"
Biography: W. Bernard Carlson "Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age"
Motion picture: The Prestige

Sources:
https://www.energy.gov/articles/war-currents-ac-vs-dc-power
https://www.ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2014/03/dc-voltage.html

Pictures:
pixabay.com