Electricity Grids

A 100 percent WWS energy infrastructure involves electrifying or providing direct heat for all energy sectors and then providing the electricity or heat with WWS. The solution also requires interconnecting geographically dispersed WWS generators on transmission and distribution grids and providing electricity and heat for isolated microgrids. Because electricity and grids are such a large part of the solution, understanding how both work is important. This chapter discusses these issues along with the history of electromagnetism and the battle between George Westinghouse/Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison to determine whether alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) would predominate worldwide. The chapter also discusses how transformers, motors, and generators work.