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A Closer Look at the Nature of Power Generators

There was a time when the only way to obtain fire on demand was to strike a piece of metal with a flint in order to create a spark and ignite some tinder. Similarly, the first efforts to produce electricity depended on friction between two surfaces. The result, however, was a static discharge and not a flow of current that could be used to perform work. The earliest attempts to achieve the latter relied on various types of chemical reactions within a battery, but the flow of electrons ceased once the reactants were exhausted.

Even modern batteries become depleted and require recharging. Genuine power generators were not even possible before Faraday’s invention of the electric motor eventually led him, ten years later, to discover the relationship between magnetism and motion known as electromagnetic induction.

His experiments revealed that when, either a magnet is moved within a stationary copper coil, or the coil is rotated around a stationary magnet, the effect is to create a flow of electrons in the coil. The flow is maintained as long as the rotation is continued, effectively providing a means to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, which can then be used to power various activities external to the generators.

Even in this 21st century, the vast majority of electricity produced continues to rely on the principle of electromagnetic induction discovered almost 190 years ago. Since then, one of the most significant developments has been the move from machines that produce direct current to the more efficient alternating current technology that sparked the historic “war of the currents” between Thomas Edison and its inventor, Nikola Tesla. Ultimately, it was a victory for Tesla and his A/C technology, now acknowledged worldwide as the preferred output, especially for the commercial power generators, tasked with supplying the nation’s needs.

Leveraging the principle of electromagnetic induction for this purpose requires the interaction of two components – that in which the interaction of movement magnetism occurs, and that which is responsible for the movement. The latter is often an engine of some kind and will differ mainly in the type of fuel it consumes. For less demanding, domestic applications, a petrol-driven engine is generally sufficient while the more powerful diesel engines are necessary for use in industrial and large-scale commercial uses, while for an eco-friendlier option, there are now electrical power generators with engines that are designed to utilise bio-diesel or natural gas.

However, motion does not always require an engine per se. Most power stations rely on burning coal to produce steam, which in turn, is used to drive turbines in order to provide the necessary rotation. Even more energy-efficient are those that rely upon the movement of water to drive the turbines. On a river, a dam can be used to create a head of water to produce the driving force while, more recently, the use of a barrage to create a head of seawater has allowed the use of the ebb and flow of the tides for the same purpose.

Long used in milling and for pumping, modified windmills are now providing the rotary action for power generators all over the world, and vast wind farms with dozens, or even hundreds, of these iconic triple-bladed structures have become a common sight in many countries.

Nevertheless, there is now a green technology that promises to challenge even these eco-friendly applications of electromagnetic induction known as the photovoltaic effect and it is one that is being embraced as much by domestic users as by commerce and industry. Solar panels promise consumers, in general, the ultimate alternative to fossil-fuel burning and atmospheric pollution by conventional power generators. Employing the virtually infinite source of free fuel from the sun’s rays, these devices have no moving parts, and have the potential to quickly recoup the cost of purchase and installation, and to provide savings indefinitely.