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The first alternator to produce alternating current was an electric generator based on Michael Faraday's principles constructed by the French instrument maker Hippolyte Pixii in 1832. [3] Pixii later added a commutator to his device to produce the (then) more commonly used direct current.
An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. [2] For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature. [3] Occasionally, a linear alternator or a rotating armature with a stationary magnetic field is used.
The mechanical power needed to assist in this production is provided by a number of different sources. These sources are called prime movers, and include diesel, petrol and natural gas engines. Coal, oil, natural gas, biomass and nuclear energy are energy sources that are used to heat water to produce super-heated steam. Non-mechanical prime ...
The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is a metric that attempts to compare the costs of different methods of electricity generation consistently. Though LCOE is often presented as the minimum constant price at which electricity must be sold to break even over the lifetime of the project, such a cost analysis requires assumptions about the value of various non-financial costs (environmental ...
Generation is the conversion of some primary energy source into electric power suitable for commercial use on an electrical grid. Most commercial electric power is produced by rotating electrical machines, "generators", which move conductors through a magnetic field to produce electric current. The generator is rotated by some other prime mover ...
Virtually all electric power stations use three-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Large companies or institutions may have their own power stations to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if steam is created anyway for other purposes.
Sources that produce direct current, such as solar panels, must be coupled with an electrical inverter to convert the output to alternating current for use with conventional appliances. The phase of the outgoing power must be synchronized with the grid, and a mechanism must be included to disconnect the feed in the event of grid failure.
Current source inverters convert DC current into an AC current waveform. In applications requiring sinusoidal AC waveforms, magnitude, frequency, and phase should all be controlled. CSIs have high changes in current over time, so capacitors are commonly employed on the AC side, while inductors are commonly employed on the DC side. [ 17 ]