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In the late 19th century, something weird happened! A duel was held to establish a commercial dominance. The most surprising fact is that, t...

War of Currents Part- I: The History




In the late 19th century, something weird happened! A duel was held to establish a commercial dominance. The most surprising fact is that, though this war took place due to business rivalry, it fixed a standard for the whole world and the present world is witnessing this. Yes, it was the War of Currents that set the standard of AC current all over the world! The war didn't take place all of a sudden. A series of incidents developed the war.

A Little History:
Many of us think that the inventor of DC and AC are Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla respectively. But it goes without saying that it's not true. Imagine an era when there was no TV, AC, industrial motors, engine, or any advanced technology. At that time the main concern was to enlighten the areas. Previously there were arc lights for large areas or streets and gas lights for the household & business to serve the purpose. But gaslights are not so efficient and arc lamps need high voltage (above 3000V). Some lamps worked well under AC. Several hazards were;

✦ Maintenance is highly complex
✦ Possibilities of fire hazards
✦ Suitable for outdoor lighting
✦ Extremely high voltage was risky to work with
✦ Flickering problem

Carbon Arc Lamp


Edison Illuminating Company:
The famous inventor Edison had a great idea to replace the gas lights with incandescent light invented by him. This brought him great fame as he was able to provide illumination directly into the customer's home with a much lower voltage (nearly 110V). It gained much attention over the US and Edison held several patents and controlled all the key technical developments. By 1882 Edison Illuminating Company (EIC) was established in NY city. The key factors that made DC preferable are, 

✦ DC worked well with incandescent lamp
✦ Incandescent lamp could be powered up using batteries/ storage
✦ Backup power supply was possible
✦ DC worked well with the contemporary motors
✦ Edison specially designed a meter to prepare customer's electric bills that would run only with DC
✦ DC generators can easily be paralleled
✦ DC reduces the high voltage death risks of arc lamps.

Edison with his incandescent lamp


An intelligent entrepreneur!
George Westinghouse, a North American inventor also wanted a share in the electric lighting system. Firstly he went for DC but at that time, AC transformers were growing well in Europe and intelligent Westinghouse understood that instead of becoming a competitor to the well established Edison, it would be better to go for AC. He thought that he can easily operate the AC arc lamps in the streets with high voltage and can support the household incandescent lamp using a step-down transformer. The plus points of AC systems were,

✦ AC can be easily stepped up or stepped down while it is very hard for DC
✦ AC can be transmitted to a large distance but DC can work within a small range around the generator
✦ DC is centralized but AC is not.
✦ DC installations are very costly while AC is quite cheap.

Edison's Yellow Journalism:
Due to different fascinating features of AC,  many other companies like Thomson Houston Electric, United State Illuminating Company, Waterhouse Electric Light Company went for AC development and the generation plants for AC kept increasing. Due to the increasing copper price & popularity of AC became the reason for his loss in low voltage DC supplied by Edison Illuminating Company. From the beginning, Edison opposed AC as he held most of the patents regarding DC. Edison started to spread his negative opinions regarding AC as he had thought that it would be a better option to defame the AC system. Edison, wrote to Edward Johnson, the president of (EIC),
Just as certain as death Westinghouse will kill a customer within six months after he puts in a system of any size. He has got a new thing and it will require a great deal of experimenting to get it working practically 
Even an 84-page pamphlet titled "A warning from the Edison Electric Light Company" was distributed to different newspapers, Edison owned companies & Edison's competitor companies that used AC utilities. The pamphlets mainly focused on the safety of DC and the risks of AC that accidentally caused someone's death.





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