ELECTRICITY.

ANTHONY MELENDEZ, BLAKE ATKINSON, JAKE CRAWFORD, &

LORENZO WALTON

Electricity Is In Everything

The world we live in is fueled by electricity

80% of the world has access to electricity

Americans Use 4,500 kw/hr per house which is 6 times the

global average per capita

What is electricity

What Exactly Is
Electricity?

Electromagnetic energy

Electrons flowing along a conductor

Flow rate measured in Amps (Amperes)

Force of electricity measured as voltage

Thomas Edison
Born

February 11, 1847

Published

his own newspaper at

age 12
Troublesome
Saved

child

a 3-year-olds life

Officially

employed as a telegraph

operator
Became

science

interested with electrical

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Worked for The Associated Press at age 19

Forty thousand dollars at 22

Partnership with Western Union

First-rate inventor

Dubbed The Wizard of Menlo

Founded the Edison Illuminating Company

D.C. Current

Direct Current

Unidirectional flow of
electric charge

Low voltage supply system

Solar For My Home.

D.C. Current: Pros & Cons

Batteries, fuels cells and solar cells produce DC

Safe option

Almost everything electrical uses DC

Not good for long distances

Substantial amounts of energy loss

Nikola Tesla

Born July 10, 1856

Had a disapproving father

Worked for the Central

Telephone Exchange

Left Europe for America at

age 28

Nikola tesla

Nikola Tesla

Hired by Edison in 1884

Helped Edison further improve his inventions

Left Edison after conflicts with business

Received funding for the Tesla Electric Light Company

Nikola Tesla

Founder of A.C. Current

Forced out of his company

Luck change in 1887

Westinghouse buys Teslas patents

A.C. Current

Alternating Current.

Fluctuating electrical
signal.

Flow of charge changes

direction periodically.
Alternating current

A.C. Current: Pros & Cons

Great for long distance

electricity transfer.

Much more efficient than

D.C.

Almost all power is initially

A.C.

Not as safe as D.C.

Where Does Electricity

Come From?

Power plants extract energy from fuel

Energy sources include nuclear, fossil fuels, renewable

Heat and pressure converted to steam, moves turbine

Kinetic energy rotates axel in generator

Electricity is produced

Nuclear Energy

Fission Uranium atoms split

Pressurized Water Reactor and Boiling Water Reactor

Advantages Cheap, efficient and reliable

Disadvantages Radioactive waste, safety, non-renewable

Pressurized Water Reactor

How Do Nuclear Plants Work?

Boiling Water Reactor

How Do Nuclear Plants Work?

Nuclear Power Usage

12.3 percent of the worlds

electricity is produced by
nuclear power plants in
2012

13 countries rely on
nuclear power to
contribute at least 1/4 of

world statistics

Hydroelectric Dams

Falling water rotates

turbine

Advantages Reliable, safe

Disadvantages
Environmental
consequences, drought,
limited resevoirs

Coal

Most popular power source in the US

Advantages Abundant and cheap

Disadvantages Biggest polluter in the US, generates tons

of waste yearly, mining alters landscape, massive amounts
of water consumption

Negative Effects of Coal

Wellington, Beth

Sturgis, Sue

Renewable Energy

Includes wind, solar, geothermal, biomass

Least popular

Advantages Renewable, efficient, no greenhouse gas

emissions

Disadvantages Difficult to produce in large quantities,

reliability of supply

Solar Energy

Over 17500 MW of cumulative solar electric capacity operating in the

US

Can power more than an average of 3.5 American homes

600,000 U.S. homes and businesses have gone solar in 2014, while a
new solar project was installed every 3 minutes in that time

Predicted that the U.S. solar industry will complete its 1 millionth
installation in 2015

Solar Energy

In 2014, the residential sector grew by

58%, equaling over 800 MW of power

While installation of solar power for

homes goes up, the installation price
has dropped by 11% to $2.71 per
Watt, and since 2010 the average
price of a pV panel has dropped by
63%

Power Grid, National Grid,

or Smart Grid

The physical components to

transport electricity throughout

the world

Technologies such as a two-circuit,

single-voltage power transmission
line, poles, ACSR (Aluminiumconductor steel-reinforced) cable

Aluminium-conductor Steel-reinforced
Cable

Power Grid, National Grid,

or Smart Grid

Predicted U.S. smart grid market size is $42.8 billion as of

2014

Currently 4,093 billion kWh are being produced and moved

through the Smart Grid

Electricity In The Home

Originally introduced into

homes in the 1890s

Integrated into more homes

after WWI

Most people had electricity by

the 40s

Radio and thatrophone were

early forms of entertainment

Le thatrophone

Electricity In The Home

Americans use an avg of

about 1000 kwH a month

Biggest use of electricity is

air conditioning

2nd biggest use of

electricity is cable boxes

Cable TV Boxes Become 2nd Biggest Energy

Users in Many Homes."

Electricity In The Garage

Plug-In Hybrid cars have the best of both worlds: Electric & Gas

Hybrid cars save drivers an average of about $500 per year

Over 260,000 units sold as of November 2014

America leads sales with 126,000 sold while second place is

Netherlands with 32,000

Quality vehicles when they find a way to run longer on a charge

while also saving more money

Future of Electricity:
Solar Power

Efficiency of solar panels will continue to a point that its illogical

for someone not to buy a solar panel in a sunny place

Most efficient solar panel was developed by the University of New

South Wales researchers, the solar panels are 40% efficient
compared to Americas average of 25% efficient solar panels

Solar panels predicted price drop of 40% by 2017

Future of Electricity:
Hydroelectricity

Plans on investing money into smaller hydro power plants

and improving pumping efficiency will happen.

New technologies such as wave or tidal energy is being

researched and produced

Works Cited
Alternating Current. Electricneutron.com. Electricneutron, n.d. Web. 6 Apr 2015.
Aluminum-conductor Steel-reinforced Cable. Digital image. ACSR Cable(Aluminum Conductor
Steel Reinforced Cable). N.p. Web. 12. Apr. 2015.
"Average Household Electricity Use around the World." Shrinkthatfootprint.com.
01 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

WordPress,

Average PV System Prices. Digital image. Solar Industry Data. 1 Jan. 2014. Web.
Burning Coal, Burning Cash: Ranking the States that Import the Most Coal. Ucsusa.org.
Union of Concerned Scientist, Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
Coal generates 44% of our electricity, and is the single biggest air polluter in the U.S.
Ucsusa.org. Union of Concerned Scientist, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
"Energy Access Database." Worldenergyoutlook.org. OECD, 2014. Web. 12 Apr.

2015.

How Do Coal Fired Plants Work? Duke-energy.com. Duke Energy Corporation,

Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

n.d.

How Do Nuclear Plants Work? Duke-energy.com. Duke Energy Corporation, n.d. Web. 9
Apr. 2015.

Work Cited
Hydroelectric Power: How It Works. Water.usgs.gov. U.S. Department of The Interior,
U.S.
Geological
Survey, 2 May 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
Hydroelectric Power Water Use. Water.usgs.gov. U.S. Department of The Interior,
U.S. Geological Survey, 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
Kebede, Rebekah. "Australia Develops World's Most Efficient Solar Panels." - RT
Business. TV-Novosti, 8
Dec. 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
"Le Thatrophone."Le Magasin Pittoresque1892: 9. Print.
"Nikola Tesla."Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 6 Apr.2015.
Nuclear Energy. Conserve-energy-future.com. Conserve Energy Future, n.d. Web. 9
Apr. 2015.
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CleanTechnica. Sustainable
Enterprises Media, Inc, 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Apr.
2015.
Solar For My Home. Cleangreenenergyzone.com. Green Energy, n.d. Web. 6 Apr
2015.

Works Cited
Sturgis, Sue. Aging Coal Plants Take A Heavy Environmental Toll. Southernstudies.org.
Institute For Southern Studies, 2 Dec. 2009. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
"The Future of Solar." - REC. REC Solar ASA, 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
"Thomas Edison."Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 6Apr.2015.
"Top 10 Nuclear Generating Countries." Nuclear Energy Institute. Nuclear Energy
Institute, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
Vartebedian, Ralph. "Cable TV Boxes Become 2nd Biggest Energy Users in Many
Homes."Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
Wellington, Beth. The Myth of Mountain Top Removal Mining. Theguardian.com. The
Guardian, 19 Aug. 2011. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
What is electricity? Alstom.com. N.p. n.d. Web. 6 Apr 2015.
Woodford, Chris. Power Plants. Explainthatstuff.com. Explain That Stuff, 25 Nov.
2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2015
"World Statistics." NEI - Nuclear Energy Institute. Nuclear Energy Institute, 1 Jan. 2014.
Web. 13 Apr. 2015.