Ever wondered who has discovered the electricity or how the country concept of power came?
So to answer your question, let's started with the very basics. Most people give credit to Benjamin Franklin as he has told firstly that for the flow of electricity, there must be a positive and a negative charge. He also believed that lightning was a form of this flowing electricity. Benjamin Franklin had one of the greatest scientific minds of his time.
Later it was found that due to the flow of negative charges (that is electrons), the electricity flows. The medium in which power flows is either a conductor or a semiconductor. The electricity flows just opposite to the flow of electrons.
Generation of electricity
Electricity is generated in various ways, like from the burning of coal, from wind, water, etc.
There are Thermal Power plants in which the burning of coal produces electricity. In wind energy, the wind is used to rotate the turbine of the Generator, and through this mechanically stored energy, the shaft of the Generator rotates and generates electricity. In Hydroelectric power station, the heat is produced from the flow of water. In hydroelectric power plants the water from the river is used to produce electricity. For this, we make dams at a very high altitude so that we can restore water, and later through various means, we make the water flow from a higher level to a lower level at a very high speed. This kinetic energy of flowing water is used to rotate the shaft of the Generator, and as the Generator turns, the electricity is produced.
In nuclear power plants, atomic energy is used to produce or generate electricity.
This is very dangerous to produce electricity from nuclear plants as nuclear radiation from nuclear reactions is very dangerous for health. So proper standards and safety measures have to be taken in handling and operating the nuclear power plants.
In India, about 55 percent of electricity is being produced by thermal power plants. But nowadays, more and more countries are moving toward eco-friendly nonconventional sources of energy that are solar energy, hydroelectric energy, and wind energy.
Transmission of electricity
Now, after the generation of electricity being generated, there is a need to transmit this energy to the various power stations. The heat is produced at a low voltage nearly at 440 volts, but the transmission is done at higher voltages like 11000, 32000, 66,000 volts, and so on. The maximum energy transmitted in India is 765 kV now. So to transmit the electricity we need conductors, polls for the support of conductor, transformers are the necessary equipment that is used in the transmission of power.
It transforms the voltage that has been generated that is it step-ups the 440 volts produced to various level voltage (11000, 32000,66000) and so on. To receive this huge voltage, the power station has been made.
Distribution of electricity
Now, after the transmission, the electricity being produced is distributed to our home.
We have seen that for that we have a substation in our area where the supply of electricity is made.
This substation converts or step-downs the 11000 or higher voltage to the operating voltage like 440 and 220 volts. All household equipment is made to run at 440 volts.
So the first electricity is generated then transmitted and finally distributed to our homes. This is how the power flows from making end to consumer end.
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