Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.
Edison c. 1922
Edison in 1861
Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, reconstructed at Greenfield Village in Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan
Edison's Menlo Park Lab in 1880
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery to end users or its storage, using for example, the pumped-storage method.
A turbo generator
Dynamos and engine installed at Edison General Electric Company, New York, 1895
Wind turbines usually provide electrical generation in conjunction with other methods of producing power.
Large dams, such as Hoover Dam in the United States, can provide large amounts of hydroelectric power. It has an installed capacity of 2.07 GW.