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Single-pole circuit breakers feed 120 V circuits from one of the 120 V buses within the panel, or two-pole circuit breakers feed 240-volt circuits from both buses. 120 V circuits are the most common, and used to power NEMA 1 and NEMA 5 outlets, and most residential and light commercial direct-wired lighting circuits.
Most of the Americas use 60 Hz AC, the 120/240 volt split-phase system domestically and three phase for larger installations. North American transformers usually power homes at 240 volts, similar to Europe's 230 volts. It is the split-phase that allows use of 120 volts in the home. Japan's utility frequencies are 50 Hz and 60 Hz.
For electrical installations with split-phase (three-wire single-phase) service, the neutral point of the system is at the center-tap on the secondary side of the service transformer. For larger electrical installations, such as those with polyphase service, the neutral point is usually at the common connection on the secondary side of delta ...
Current practice is to give separate services for single-phase and three-phase loads, e.g., 120 V split-phase (lighting etc.) and 240 V to 600 V three-phase (for large motors). However, many jurisdictions forbid more than one class for a premises' service, and the choice may come down to 120/240 V split-phase, 208 V single-phase or three-phase ...
For example, in North America, a unique split-phase system is used to supply to most premises that works by center tapping a 240 volt transformer. This system is able to concurrently provide 240 volts and 120 volts. Consequently, this allows homeowners to wire up both 240 V and 120 V circuits as they wish (as regulated by local building codes).
Lighting and general purpose receptacles are at 120 volts AC, with larger devices fed by three wire single-phase circuits at 240 volts. In commercial construction, three-phase circuits are often used. Common 3 phase configurations within a building are 208v/120 wye, 120/240 center tapped delta and 480v/277v wye. Lighting is usually fed by 277 V ...
One voltage cycle of a three-phase system. A polyphase system (the term coined by Silvanus Thompson) is a means of distributing alternating-current (AC) electrical power that utilizes more than one AC phase, which refers to the phase offset value (in degrees) between AC in multiple conducting wires; phases may also refer to the corresponding terminals and conductors, as in color codes.
Where two voltages are given below separated by "/", the first is the root-mean-square voltage between a phase and the neutral connector, whereas the second is the corresponding root-mean-square voltage between two phases (exception: the category shown below called "One Phase", where 240 V is the root-mean-square voltage between the two legs of a split phase).