From Wire to Light

From Wire to Light

1. Generation. A plant — gas, solar, wind, nuclear — turns motion or light into current. The nuclear technician, the wind technician and the solar installer all begin here.
2. Transmission. Lineworkers hang the high-voltage lines on the towers.
3. Substation. Transformers step the voltage down; the substation electrician keeps them alive.
4. Distribution. Poles and underground runs to the street.
5. Service. The meter, the service entrance, the panel — the electrician's first job on a house.
6. Branch circuits. Conduit, wire, breakers, devices, to the NEC.
7. The switch. A person touches it. Light.
8. Behind the light. The data center technician's racks, the HVAC technician's chillers keeping them cool, the elevator mechanic's controller waiting for the button.

Everything in a city is on the far end of a wire. Every program on the Power Systems and Renewable Energy pathways sits somewhere on this line.