made in Budapest, Hungary, in the power generating hall of a hydroelectric station]], West Flanders, Belgium]]In electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts kinetic energy to electrical energy, generally using electromagnetic induction. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by a motor, and motors and generators have many similarities. The source of mechanical energy may be a reciprocating or turbine steam engine, water falling through a turbine or waterwheel, an internal combustion engine, a wind turbine, a hand crank, or any other source of mechanical energy.
Historic developments
Electrostatic generators are used for scientific experiments requiring high voltages. Because of the difficulty of insulating machines producing very high voltages, electrostatic generators are made only with low power ratings and are never used for generation of commercially-significant quantities of electric power. Before the connect
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinamo