In 1884, Tesla left Europe for the United
States and went to work for the inventor Thomas Edison. Edison respected the young engineer but the
American inventor was a strong supporter of direct current (DC), and so he had
little interest in Tesla's alternating current (AC) generation, transmission, and
motor system. Tesla quit working for Edison
after one year.
Tesla vs.
Edison--Energy Competition
In 1887, Tesla started the Tesla Electric Company in New York City. There, he produced three complete systems of AC machinery. For each system, Tesla designed generators to supply the current, motors that use the current, transformers to raise and lower voltages, and a variety of devices to automatically control the machinery. Tesla received patents for his polyphase system of AC generators, transformers, and motors in 1888. That same year, he sold his patents to U.S. industrialist George Westinghouse. Tesla then worked at the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh for a year to help develop commercial uses of the AC system. Tesla became a U.S. citizen in 1889.
In 1893, Westinghouse used Tesla's AC
system to light the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1895, Westinghouse's Niagara Falls Power
Project used Tesla's generators and motors to harness the power of the
waterfall.