An alternator/ generator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.

Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used. In principle, any AC electrical generator can be called an alternator, but usually the word refers to small rotating machines driven by automotive and other internal combustion engines. Alternators in power stations driven by steam turbines are called turbo-alternators. An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines (such as steam engines) burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion. Electric motors convert electrical energy in mechanical motion, pneumatic motors use compressed air and others, such as wind-up toys use elastic energy. In biological systems molecular motors like myosins in muscles use chemical energy to create motion. A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by overload or short circuit. Its basic function is to detect a fault condition and, by interrupting continuity, to immediately discontinue electrical flow. Unlike a fuse, which operates once and then has to be replaced, a circuit breaker can be reset (either manually or automatically) to resume normal operation. Circuit breakers are made in varying sizes, from small devices that protect an individual household appliance up to large switchgear designed to protect high voltage circuits feeding an entire city. A synchronous electric motor is an AC motor distinguished by a rotor spinning with coils passing magnets at the same rate as the power supply frequency and resulting rotating magnetic field which drives it. An induction or asynchronous motor is a type of AC motor where power is supplied to the rotor by means of electromagnetic induction. These motors are widely used in industrial drives, particularly polyphase induction motors, because they are robust and have no brushes. Their speed can be controlled with a variable frequency drive. A synchronous condenser (sometimes syncronous capacitor or synchronous compensator) is a device identical to a synchronous motor, whose shaft is not connected to anything but spins freely.[1] Its purpose is not to convert electric power to mechanical power or vice versa, but to adjust conditions on the electric power transmission grid. Its field is controlled by a voltage regulator to either generate or absorb reactive power as needed to adjust the grid's voltage, or to improve power factor. The condensers installation and operation are identical to large electric motors.

A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductorsthe transformer's coils. A varying current in the

first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field through the secondary winding. This varying magnetic field induces a varying electromotive force (EMF), or "voltage", in the secondary winding. This effect is called inductive coupling. A lightning arrester is a device used on electrical power systems to protect the insulation on the system from the damaging effect of lightning. Metal oxide varistors (MOVs) have been used for power system protection since the mid 1970s. The typical lightning arrester also known as surge arrester has a high voltage terminal and a ground terminal. When a lightning surge or switching surge travels down the power system to the arrester, the current from the surge is diverted around the protected insulation in most cases to earth. A fuse (from the French fuse, Italian. fuso, "spindle"[1]) is a type of low resistance resistor that acts as a sacrificial device to provide overcurrent protection, of either the load or source circuit. Its essential component is a metal wire or strip that melts when too much current flows, which interrupts the circuit in which it is connected. Short circuit, overloading, mismatched loads or device failure are the prime reasons for excessive current. An electric switchboard is a device that directs electricity from one source to another. It is an assembly of panels, each of which contains switches that allow electricity to be redirected. The U.S. National Electrical Code (NEC) defines a switchboard as a large single panel, frame, or assembly of panels on which are mounted, on the face, back, or both, switches, overcurrent and other protective devices, buses, and usually instruments. The role of a switchboard is to divide the main current provided to the switchboard into smaller currents for further distribution and to provide switching, current protection and metering for these various currents. In general, switchboards safely distribute power to transformers, panelboards, control equipment, and ultimately to system loads. A multimeter or a multitester, also known as a VOM (Volt-Ohm meter), is an electronic measuring instrument that combines several measurement functions in one unit. A typical multimeter may include features such as the ability to measure voltage, current and resistance. Multimeters may use analog or digital circuitsanalog multimeters (AMM) and digital multimeters (often abbreviated DMM or DVOM.) Analog instruments are usually based on a microammeter whose pointer moves over a scale calibrated for all the different measurements that can be made; digital instruments usually display digits, but may display a bar of a length proportional to the quantity being measured. The wattmeter is an instrument for measuring the electric power (or the supply rate of electrical energy) in watts of any given circuit. An instrument which measures electrical energy in watt hours (electricity meter or energy analyser) is essentially a wattmeter which accumulates or averages readings; many such instruments measure and can display many parameters and can be used

where a wattmeter is needed: volts, current ,in amperes, apparent instantaneous power, actual power, power factor, energy in [k]Wh over a period of time, and cost of electricity consumeA tachometer (revolution-counter, Tach, rev-counter, RPM gauge) is an instrument measuring the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated analogue dial, but digital displays are increasingly common. The word comes from Greek , tachos, "speed", and metron, "to measure". A distribution board (or panelboard) is a component of an electricity supply system which divides an electrical power feed into subsidiary circuits, while providing a protective fuse or circuit breaker for each circuit, in a common enclosure. Normally, a main switch, and in recent boards, one or more Residual-current devices (RCD) or Residual Current Breakers with Overcurrent protection (RCBO), will also be incorporated. A motor controller is a device or group of devices that serves to govern in some predetermined manner the performance of an electric motor. A motor controller might include a manual or automatic means for starting and stopping the motor, selecting forward or reverse rotation, selecting and regulating the speed, regulating or limiting the torque, and protecting against overloads and faults.

The term switchgear, used in association with the electric power system, or grid, refers to the combination of electrical disconnects, fuses and/or circuit breakers used to isolate electrical equipment. Switchgear is used both to de-energize equipment to allow work to be done and to clear faults downstream. This type of equipment is important because it is directly linked to the reliability of the electricity supply. AC power sources provide output often with adjustable ranges of current, voltage and frequency. They are used in testing motors and many other kinds of electrical equipment for which input values may vary. The output frequency of AC power sources can typically be well into the kilohertz range. AC power sources can be benchtop, DIN rail, rack mount, or cabinet style. The nominal AC input for AC power sources can be 115 VAC, 230 VAC, or 155/230 VAC selectable. Switches are devices used to allow electric current to flow when closed, and when opened, they prevent current flow. Common switch types include pushbutton, rocker, toggle, rotary coded DIP, DIP, rotary, keylock, slide, snap action, and reed.