<P> In the US William Stanley , Jr. designed one of the first practical devices to transfer AC power efficiently between isolated circuits . Using pairs of coils wound on a common iron core , his design , called an induction coil , was an early ( 1885 ) transformer . Stanley also worked on engineering and adapting European designs such as the Gaulard and Gibbs transformer for US entrepreneur George Westinghouse who started building AC systems in 1886 . The spread of Westinghouse and other AC systems triggered a push back in late 1887 by Edison ( a proponent of direct current ) who attempted to discredit alternating current as too dangerous in a public campaign called the `` War of Currents '' . In 1888 alternating current systems gained further viability with introduction of a functional AC motor , something these systems had lacked up till then . The design , an induction motor , was independently invented by Galileo Ferraris and Nikola Tesla ( with Tesla 's design being licensed by Westinghouse in the US ) . This design was further developed into the modern practical three - phase form by Mikhail Dolivo - Dobrovolsky and Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown . </P>
<P> In the US William Stanley , Jr. designed one of the first practical devices to transfer AC power efficiently between isolated circuits . Using pairs of coils wound on a common iron core , his design , called an induction coil , was an early ( 1885 ) transformer . Stanley also worked on engineering and adapting European designs such as the Gaulard and Gibbs transformer for US entrepreneur George Westinghouse who started building AC systems in 1886 . The spread of Westinghouse and other AC systems triggered a push back in late 1887 by Edison ( a proponent of direct current ) who attempted to discredit alternating current as too dangerous in a public campaign called the `` War of Currents '' . In 1888 alternating current systems gained further viability with introduction of a functional AC motor , something these systems had lacked up till then . The design , an induction motor , was independently invented by Galileo Ferraris and Nikola Tesla ( with Tesla 's design being licensed by Westinghouse in the US ) . This design was further developed into the modern practical three - phase form by Mikhail Dolivo - Dobrovolsky and Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown . </P>
who developed the first alternating current electric system
who developed the first alternating current electric system
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla