IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2015 - 92

history

Carl Sulzberger

first Edison lights at sea
the SS Columbia story, 1880-1907

WHEN THOMAS EDISON SET OUT
to develop a practical and economical incandescent electric light bulb in
mid-1878, he quickly realized that, to
achieve commercial success, he would
have to create a complete electrical
system to generate and deliver electric energy to customers. Modeled on
(then) long-established and successful
gas lighting systems, Edison's plan was
to combine a central power station with
a system of electrical conductors radiating out from it to distribute electrical
energy to multiple end users.
After successfully producing a practical light bulb in October 1879, Edison
staged a dramatic demonstration of his
system at his Menlo Park, New Jersey,
laboratory during the last week of 1879.
Among the attendees at the 31 December 1879 demonstration were New York
business leaders and potential financial
backers. Electric lamps brightly illuminated imaginary streets and several
buildings on the property. The required
electric power was generated by a dynamo in a central location in a laboratory
annex. The demonstration, which was attended by several thousand visitors during the week, was a well-publicized success. However, financiers were reluctant
to invest in Edison's low-voltage direct
current (dc) system until they saw more
evidence of its commercial viability.
Edison later proved the technical
feasibility of his central station concept
with the installation of the world's first
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2014.2362477
Date of publication: 7 January 2015

ieee power & energy magazine

commercial incandescent light system
under the Holborn Viaduct in London,
England. This temporary demonstration project operated successfully for
about two years, beginning in January
1882. Edison's legendary Pearl Street
station and electric distribution system in what was known as the "First
District" in lower Manhattan went
into service on 2 September 1882 as
the first permanent central stationbased electric power system. While
the Pearl Street project enjoyed only
limited financial success, the station's
performance satisfied Edison's financial backers that the concept was both
technically and commercially viable.
Throughout, Edison fully understood the need to promote his inventions by whatever methods were
available at the time. As a result, he
was willing to satisfy a growing demand in the early years for isolated
incandescent lighting plants while, at
the same time, he remained focused
on bringing his central station vision
to commercial fruition. Isolated plants
were stand-alone installations generally serving one commercial, industrial,
or residential customer and powered by
low-voltage dc generating facilities located on the customer's premises. The
isolated plant part of Edison's business
grew such that over 300 such installations were sold by early 1883.
This article tells the story of the
very first commercial use of the Edison incandescent light bulb, which was
also the first application of Edison's
invention after the famous Menlo Park
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illumination of late December 1879.
This isolated electric power system
was installed on the new passenger and
cargo steamship SS Columbia in 1880.
Another first was that this installation
was the first shipboard incandescent
lighting system.

Henry Villard
Railroad magnate and businessman
Henry Villard, then president of the
Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, attended Edison's 31 December
1879 light demonstration at Menlo
Park. An instant advocate for incandescent lighting, Villard approached
Edison to install a lighting system in
the new steamship being built for his
company at the John Roach & Sons
Delaware River Iron Ship Building and
Engine Works in Chester, Pennsylvania. At first, insurance underwriters
reportedly threatened to refuse insurance coverage on the vessel if electric
lights were installed. Edison was also
reluctant to accept this first commercial order for a lighting system because
it was an isolated system and would
consume time, effort, and money that
he preferred to invest in perfecting his
central station system. After thinking
about it further, Edison could not resist
the prospect of the likely favorable
publicity that would accompany this
unique application of his invention. A
contract for an Edison isolated electric light system was signed in January 1880 by Edison and Villard, and
Edison began planning the installation
and securing the required dynamos,
january/february 2015

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